THE YALE 
SHAKESPEARE 



KING RICHARD 
THE SECOND 



Edited by 
Llewellyn M. Buell 



Yale University 
Press 




Class _J^R 2j %lJQ 
Book AzTB? — 
Copyright N°^_ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



THE YALE SHAKESPEARE 



Edited by 
Wilbur L. Cross Tucker Brooke 

WlLLARD HlGLEY DURHAM 



Published under the Direction 

or THE 

Department of English, Yale University, 

on the Fund 

Given to the Yale University Press in 1917 

by the Members of the 

Kingsley Trust Association 

To Commemorate the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary 

of the Founding of the Society 



• : The Yale Shakespeare '. • 

THE TRAGEDY OF KING 
RICHARD THE SECOND 

EDITED BY 

/ 
LLEWELLYN M. BUELL * 




NEW HAVEN • YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

LONDON • HUMPHREY MILFORD 
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS • MCMXXI 







% 



<&* 



I 



P\^ 



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Copyright, 1921 
By Yale University Press 



First published, 1921 



M -6 1921 



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©CI.A614855 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS 



The Text . 
Notes 

Appendix A. 
Appendix B. 
Appendix C. 

Appendix D. 

Appendix E. 



Sources of the Play 

The History of the Play . 

The Text of the Present Edi- 
tion .... 

Suggestions for Collateral Read- 
ing 

Historical Dates of Scenes 



Appendix F. Genealogical Chart 
Index of Words Glossed 



Page 
1 

107 

122 

128 

135 

138 
139 
142 
143 



H 



in 



The facsimile opposite represents the title-page of the 
Elizabethan Club copy of the Fourth Quarto (1608). 



THE 

Tragedie of Kin 

Richard the feconcL 

Asfthathbeenpublikely afted by the Right 
Honourable the Lord Chaxnbcrlaiirc 
his feruantes. 

By William Sbake-Jpeare. 




LONDON, 

Pnntedby W.WJor u^&wZ^andaretoBe 
fold at bis (hop in Paules Church-yard, at 
the figne of ihc Foxe. 



[DRAMATIS PERSONS 



► Uncles to the King 



King Richard the Second 
John of Gaunt, Duke 

of Lancaster, 
Edmund of Langley, 

Duke of York, 
Henry, surnamed Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, 

Son to John of Gaunt; afterwards King Henry IV 
Duke of Aumerle, Son to the Duke of York 
Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk 
Duke of Surrey 
Earl of Salisbury 
Lord Berkeley 
Bushy, 

Bagot, Servants to King Richard 
Green, 

Earl of Northumberland 
Henry Percy, surnamed Hotspur, his Son 
Lord Ross 
Lord Willoughby 
Lord Fitzwater 
Bishop of Carlisle 
Abbot of Westminster 
Lord Marshal 
Sir Pierce of Exton 
Sir Stephen Scroop 
Captain of a Band of Welshmen 

Isabel, Queen to King Richard 
Duchess of Gloucester 
Duchess of York 
Lady attending on the Queen 

Lords, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Gardeners, Keeper, 
Messenger, Groom, and other Attendants 

Scene: Dispersedly in England and Wales.~\ 



The Life and Death of King 
Richard the Second 

ACT FIRST 

Scene One 
[Windsor. Within the Castle Walls'] 

Enter King Richard, John of Gaunt, with other 
Nobles and Attendants. 

K. Rich. Old John of Gaunt, time-honour'd Lan- 
caster, 
Hast thou, according to thy oath and band, 
Brought hither Henry Hereford thy bold son, 
Here to make good the boisterous late appeal, 4 

Which then our leisure would not let us hear, 
Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray? 
Gaunt. I have, my liege. 

K. Rich. Tell me, moreover, hast thou sounded 
him, 8 

If he appeal the duke on ancient malice, 
Or worthily, as a good subject should, 
On some known ground of treachery in him? 

Gaunt. As near as I could sift him on that argu- 
ment, 12 
On some apparent danger seen in him 
Aim'd at your highness, no inveterate malice. 

K. Rich. Then call them to our presence : face to 
face, 

Scene One; cf. n. 2 band: bond 

3 Hereford; cf. n. 4 appeal: accusation; cf. n. 

9 appeal: accuse, challenge 12 argument: topic 



The Life and Death of 



And frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear 16 
The accuser and the accused freely speak: 

[Exeunt some Attendants.] 
High-stomach'd are they both, and full of ire, 
In rage deaf as the sea, hasty as fire. 

Enter Bolingbroke and Mowbray. 

Boling. Many years of happy days befall 20 

My gracious sovereign, my most loving liege! 

Mow. Each day still better other's happiness; 
Until the heavens, envying earth's good hap, 
Add an immortal title to your crown! 24 

K. Rich. We thank you both : yet one but flatters 
us, 
As well appeareth by the cause you come; 
Namely, to appeal each other of high treason. 
Cousin of Hereford, what dost thou object 28 

Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray? 

Boling. First, — heaven be the record to my 
speech ! — 
In devotion of a subject's love, 

Tendering the precious safety of my prince, 32 

And free from other misbegotten hate, 
Come I appellant to this princely presence. 
Now, Thomas Mowbray, do I turn to thee, 
And mark my greeting well ; for what I speak 36 

My body shall make good upon this earth, 
Or my divine soul answer it in heaven. 
Thou art a traitor and a miscreant; 
Too good to be so and too bad to live, 40 

Since the more fair and crystal is the sky, 
The uglier seem the clouds that in it fly. 
Once more, the more to aggravate the note, 

18 High-stomach'd: hot-tempered 23 hap: fortune 

32 Tendering: holding tenderly 34 appellant; cf. n. 

43 aggravate the note: intensify the stigma 



King Richard the Second, I.i 3 

With a foul traitor's name stuff I thy throat ; 44 

And wish, so please my sovereign, ere I move, 
What my tongue speaks, my right drawn sword may 
prove. 

Mow. Let not my cold words here accuse my zeal: 
'Tis not the trial of a woman's war, 48 

The bitter clamour of two eager tongues, 
Can arbitrate this cause betwixt us twain; 
The blood is hot that must be cool'd for this. 
Yet can I not of such tame patience boast 52 

As to be hush'd and naught at all to say. 
First, the fair reverence of your highness curbs me 
From giving reins and spurs to my free speech; 
Which else would post until it had return'd 56 

These terms of treason doubled down his throat. 
Setting aside his high blood's royalty, 
And let him be no kinsman to my liege, 
I do defy him, and I spit at him; 60 

Call him a slanderous coward and a villain: 
Which to maintain I would allow him odds, 
And meet him, were I tied to run afoot 
Even to the frozen ridges of the Alps, 64 

Or any other ground inhabitable, 
Wherever Englishman durst set his foot. 
Meantime let this defend my loyalty: 
By all my hopes, most falsely doth he lie. 68 

Boling. Pale trembling coward, there I throw my 
gage, 
Disclaiming here the kindred of the king; 
And lay aside my high blood's royalty, 
Which fear, not reverence, makes thee to except. 72 
If guilty dread have left thee so much strength 
As to take up mine honour's pawn, then stoop : 

56 post: hasten 59 Cf. n. 63 tied: obliged 

65 inhabitable: uninhabitable 69 gage: pledge {here, his hood) 



The Life and Death of 



By that; and all the rites of knighthood else, 

Will I make good against thee, arm to arm, 76 

What I have spoke, or thou canst worse devise. 

Mow. I take it up; and by that sword I swear, 
Which gently laid my knighthood on my shoulder, 
I'll answer thee in any fair degree, 80 

Or chivalrous design of knightly trial: 
And when I mount, alive may I not light, 
If I be traitor or unjustly fight! 

K. Rich. What doth our cousin lay to Mowbray's 
charge ? 84 

It must be great that can inherit us 
So much as of a thought of ill in him. 

Boling. Look, what I speak, my life shall prove it 
true; 
That Mowbray hath receiv'd eight thousand nobles 88 
In name of lendings for your highness' soldiers, 
The which he hath detain'd for lewd employments, 
Like a false traitor and injurious villain. 
Besides I say and will in battle prove, 92 

Or here or elsewhere to the furthest verge 
That ever was survey'd by English eye, 
That all the treasons for these eighteen years 
Complotted and contrived in this land, 96 

Fetch from false Mowbray their first head and 

spring. 
Further I say and further will maintain 
Upon his bad life to make all this good, 
That he did plot the Duke of Gloucester's death, loo 
Suggest his soon-believing adversaries, 
And consequently, like a traitor coward, 

81 design: enterprise 85 inherit us: put us in possession of 

88 nobles: gold coins worth 6s. 8d. 

89 lendings: money advances on their pay 90 lewd: base 
91 injurious: malicious 101 Suggest: in stigate 



King Richard the Second, I. i 5 

Sluic'd out his innocent soul through streams of 

blood: 
Which blood, like sacrificing Abel's, cries, 104 

Even from the tongueless caverns of the earth, 
To me for justice and rough chastisement; 
And, by the glorious worth of my descent, 
This arm shall do it, or this life be spent. 108 

K. Rich. How high a pitch his resolution soars ! 
Thomas of Norfolk, what sayst thou to this? 

Mow. O ! let my sovereign turn away his face 
And bid his ears a little while be deaf, 112 

Till I have told this slander of his blood 
How God and good men hate so foul a liar. 

K. Rich. Mowbray, impartial are our eyes and 
ears: 
Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir, — 116 
As he is but my father's brother's son, — 
Now, by my sceptre's awe I make a vow, 
Such neighbour nearness to our sacred blood 
Should nothing privilege him, nor partialize 120 

The unstooping firmness of my upright soul. 
He is our subject, Mowbray; so art thou: 
Free speech and fearless I to thee allow. 

Mote;. Then, Bolingbroke, as low as to thy 
heart, 124 

Through the false passage of thy throat, thou liest. 
Three parts of that receipt I had for Calais 
Disburs'd I duly to his highness' soldiers; 
The other part reserv'd I by consent, 128 

For that my sovereign liege was in my debt 
Upon remainder of a dear account, 
Since last I went to France to fetch his queen. 

109 pitch: heig ht 120 partialize: render part ial 

126 receipt: money 

130 Upon remainder: for the balance dear: heavy 131 Cf. n. 



6 The Life and Death of 

Now swallow down that lie. For Gloucester's 
death, 132 

I slew him not; but to mine own disgrace 

Neglected my sworn duty in that case. 

For you, my noble Lord of Lancaster, 

The honourable father to my foe, 136 

Once did I lay an ambush for your life, 

A trespass that doth vex my grieved soul; 

But ere I last receiv'd the sacrament 

I did confess it, and exactly begg'd 140 

Your Grace's pardon, and I hope I had it. 

This is my fault: as for the rest appeal'd, 

It issues from the rancour of a villain, 

A recreant and most degenerate traitor; 144 

Which in myself I boldly will defend, 

And interchangeably hurl down my gage 

Upon this overweening traitor's foot, 

To prove myself a loyal gentleman 148 

Even in the best blood chamber'd in his bosom. 

In haste whereof, most heartily I pray 

Your highness to assign our trial day. 

K. Rich. Wrath-kindled gentlemen, be rul'd by 
me ; 152 

Let's purge this choler without letting blood: 

This we prescribe, though no physician; 

Deep malice makes too deep incision: 

Forget, forgive; conclude and be agreed, 156 

Our doctors say this is no month to bleed. 

Good uncle, let this end where it begun; 

We'll calm the Duke of Norfolk, you your son. 

Gaunt. To be a make-peace shall become my 
age : 160 

138 trespass: offense 140 exactly : in express terms 

146 interchangeably: reciprocally 150 whereof : to wards this event 

153 choler; cf. n. 156 conclude: come to an understanding 



King Richard the Second, I. i 7 

Throw down, my son, the Duke of Norfolk's gage. 

K. Rich. And, Norfolk, throw down his. 

Gaunt. When, Harry, when? 

Obedience bids I should not bid again. 

K. Rich. Norfolk, throw down, we bid; there is no 
boot. 164 

Mow. Myself I throw, dread sovereign, at thy 
foot. 
My life thou shalt command, but not my shame: 
The one my duty owes; but my fair name, — 
Despite of death, that lives upon my grave, — 168 

To dark dishonour's use thou shalt not have. 
I am disgrac'd, impeach'd, and baffled here, 
Pierc'd to the soul with slander's venom'd spear, 
The which no balm can cure but his heart-blood 172 
Which breath'd this poison. 

K.Rich. Rage must be withstood: 

Give me his gage: lions make leopards tame. 

Mow. Yea, but not change his spots: take but my 
shame, 
And I resign my gage. My dear dear lord, 176 

The purest treasure mortal times afford 
Is spotless reputation; that away, 
Men are but gilded loam or painted clay. 
A jewel in a ten-times-barr'd-up chest 180 

Is a bold spirit in a loyal breast. 
Mine honour is my life; both grow in one; 
Take honour from me, and my life is done: 
Then, dear my liege, mine honour let me try ; 184 

In that I live and for that will I die. 

K.Rich. Cousin, throw down your gage: do you 
begin. 

Boling. O God, defend my soul from such deep sin ! 

162 When: exclamation of impatience 164 boot: help for it 

170 impeach'd: disparaged baffled; cf. n. 174 lions; cf. n. 



8 The Life and Death of 

Shall I seem crest-falTn in my father's sight, 188 

Or with pale beggar-fear impeach my height 
Before this out-dar'd dastard? Ere my tongue 
Shall wound mine honour with such feeble wrong, 
Or sound so base a parle, my teeth shall tear 192 
The slavish motive of recanting fear, 
And spit it bleeding in his high disgrace, 
Where shame doth harbour, even in Mowbray's face. 

Exit Gaunt. 
K. Rich. We were not born to sue, but to com- 
mand : 196 
Which since we cannot do to make you friends, 
Be ready, as your lives shall answer it, 
At Coventry, upon Saint Lambert's day: 
There shall your swords and lances arbitrate 200 
The swelling difference of your settled hate: 
Since we cannot atone you, we shall see 
Justice design the victor's chivalry. 
Marshal, command our omcers-at-arms 204 
Be ready to direct these home alarms. Exeunt. 

Scene Two 

[London. A Room in the DuJce of Lancaster's 
Palace] 

Enter Gaunt and Duchess of Gloucester. 

Gaunt. Alas ! the part I had in Woodstock's blood 
Doth more solicit me than your exclaims, 
To stir against the butchers of his life. 

189 height: high rank 192 sound . . . parle; cf.n. 

193 motive: moving organ, i.e., tongue 

199 Saint Lambert's day: September 17 

202 atone: reconcile, make 'at one' 203 design: indicate 

204 officers-at-arms; cf. n. 205 alarms: disturbances 

1 Woodstock's blood; cf. n. on I. i. and A pp. F 

2 solicit: urge exclaims: exclamations 



King Richard the Second, I. ii 9 

But since correction lieth in those hands 4 

Which made the fault that we cannot correct, 
Put we our quarrel to the will of heaven; 
Who, when they see the hours ripe on earth, 
Will rain hot vengeance on offenders' heads. 8 

Duck. Finds brotherhood in thee no sharper spur? 
Hath love in thy old blood no living fire ? 
Edward's seven sons, whereof thyself art one, 
Were as seven vials of his sacred blood, 12 

Or seven fair branches springing from one root: 
Some of those seven are dried by nature's course, 
Some of those branches by the Destinies cut; 
But Thomas, my dear lord, my life, my Gloucester, 16 
One vial full of Edward's sacred blood, 
One flourishing branch of his most royal root, 
Is crack'd, and all the precious liquor spilt; 
Is hack'd down, and his summer leaves all vaded, 20 
By envy's hand and murder's bloody axe. 
Ah, Gaunt ! his blood was thine : that bed, that womb, 
That metal, that self mould, that fashion'd thee 
Made him a man; and though thou liv'st and 
breath'st, 24 

Yet art thou slain in him: thou dost consent 
In some large measure to thy father's death 
In that thou seest thy wretched brother die, 
Who was the model of thy father's life. 28 

Call it not patience, Gaunt; it is despair: 
In suffering thus thy brother to be slaughter'd 
Thou show'st the naked pathway to thy life, 
Teaching stern murder how to butcher thee: 32 

That which in mean men we entitle patience 

4 correction: punishment 6 quarrel: grievance 

11 seven sons; cf. n. 14, IS Cf. n. 

20 vaded: faded 23 metal: substance self: very same 

28 model: exact image 33 mean: of low birth 



10 The Life and Death of 

Is pale cold cowardice in noble breasts. 

What shall I say? to safeguard thine own life, 

The best way is to venge my Gloucester's death. 36 

Gaunt. God's is the quarrel; for God's substitute, 
His deputy anointed in his sight, 
Hath caus'd his death; the which if wrongfully, 
Let heaven revenge, for I may never lift 40 

An angry arm against his minister. 

Duck. Where then, alas ! may I complain myself ? 

Gaunt. To God, the widow's champion and de- 
fence. 

Duch. Why then, I will. Farewell, old Gaunt. 44 
Thou go'st to Coventry, there to behold 
Our cousin Hereford and fell Mowbray fight: 
O! sit my husband's wrongs on Hereford's spear, 
That it may enter butcher Mowbray's breast. 48 

Or if misfortune miss the first career, 
Be Mowbray's sins so heavy in his bosom 
That they may break his foaming courser's back, 
And throw the rider headlong in the lists, 52 

A caitiff recreant to my cousin Hereford! 
Farewell, old Gaunt: thy sometimes brother's wife 
With her companion grief must end her life. 

Gaunt. Sister, farewell; I must to Coventry. 56 
As much good stay with thee as go with me! 

Duch. Yet one word more. Grief boundeth where 
it falls, 
Not with the empty hollowness, but weight: 
I take my leave before I have begun, 60 

For sorrow ends not when it seemeth done. 
Commend me to my brother, Edmund York. 
Lo! this is all: nay, yet depart not so; 

37 God's substitute : the king 46 fell: fierce 

49 career: charge in a tourney 

53 caitiff: contemptible recreant; cf. n. cousin; cf. n. 

54 sometimes: former, 'late' 



King Richard the Second, I. Hi 1 1 

Though this be all, do not so quickly go; 64 

I shall remember more. Bid him — ah, what? — 

With all good speed at Plashy visit me. 

Alack ! and what shall good old York there see 

But empty lodgings and unfurnish'd walls, 68 

Unpeopled offices, untrodden stones? 

And what hear there for welcome but my groans? 

Therefore commend me; let him not come there, 

To seek out sorrow that dwells everywhere. 72 

Desolate, desolate will I hence, and die: 

The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye. 

Exeunt. 



Scene Three 

[Open Space, near Coventry. Lists set out, and a 

Throne] 

Enter Marshal and Aumerle. 

Mar. My Lord Aumerle, is Harry Hereford 

arm'd ? 
Aum. Yea, at all points, and longs to enter in. 
Mar. The Duke of Norfolk, sprightfully and bold, 
Stays but the summons of the appellant's trumpet. 4 
Aum. Why, then, the champions are prepar'd, and 
stay 
For nothing but his majesty's approach. 

Flourish. Enter King, Gaunt, Bushy, Bagot, Green, 
and others; when they are set, enter the Duke of 
Norfolk in arms, defendant. 

66 Plashy: her seat in Essex 68 unfurnish'd: without hangings 

69 offices: kitchens and other service rooms 

71 commend me: remember me to him 

3 sprightfully : with high spirit 

6 S. d. Flourish: a triumphant trumpet call 



12 The Life and Death of 

K. Rich. Marshal, demand of yonder champion 
The cause of his arrival here in arms: 8 

Ask him his name, and orderly proceed 
To swear him in the justice of his cause. 

Mar. In God's name, and the king's, say who thou 
art, 
And why thou com'st thus knightly clad in arms, 12 
Against what man thou com'st, and what thy quarrel. 
Speak truly, on thy knighthood and thine oath; 
As so defend thee heaven and thy valour ! 

Mow. My name is Thomas Mowbray, Duke of 
Norfolk, 16 

Who hither come engaged by my oath, — 
Which God defend a knight should violate ! — 
Both to defend my loyalty and truth 
To God, my king, and his succeeding issue, 20 

Against the Duke of Hereford that appeals me; 
And, by the grace of God and this mine arm, 
To prove him, in defending of myself, 
A traitor to my God, my king, and me: 24 

And as I truly fight, defend me heaven! 

[He takes his seat.] 

The trumpets sound. Enter Duke of Hereford, 
appellant, in armour. 

K. Rich. Marshal, ask yonder knight in arms, 
Both who he is and why he cometh hither 
Thus plated in habiliments of war; 28 

And formally, according to our law, 
Depose him in the justice of his cause. 

Mar. What is thy name ? and wherefore com'st thou 
hither, 
Before King Richard in his royal lists? 32 

10 swear him in: make him take oath as to 18 defend: forbid 

30 Depose: examine under oath 



King Richard the Second, I, Hi 13 

Against whom comest thou? and what's thy quarrel? 
Speak like a true knight, so defend thee heaven ! 

Boling. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby, 
Am I; who ready here do stand in arms, 36 

To prove by God's grace and my body's valour, 
In lists, on Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, 
That he's a traitor foul and dangerous, 
To God of heaven, King Richard, and to me : 40 

And as I truly fight, defend me heaven ! 

Mar. On pain of death, no person be so bold 
Or daring-hardy as to touch the lists, 
Except the marshal and such officers 44 

Appointed to direct these fair designs. 

Boling. Lord marshal, let me kiss my sovereign's 
hand, 
And bow my knee before his majesty: 
For Mowbray and myself are like two men 48 

That vow a long and weary pilgrimage; 
Then let us take a ceremonious leave 
And loving farewell of our several friends. 

Mar. The appellant in all duty greets your high- 
ness, 52 
And craves to kiss your hand and take his leave. 

K. Rich. We will descend and fold him in our arms. 
Cousin of Hereford, as thy cause is right, 
So be thy fortune in this royal fight! 56 

Farewell, my blood; which if to-day thou shed, 
Lament we may, but not revenge thee dead. 

Boling. O ! let no noble eye profane a tear 
For me, if I be gor'd with Mowbray's spear. 60 

As confident as is the falcon's flight 
Against a bird, do I with Mowbray fight. 
My loving lord, I take my leave of you; 

59 profane: shed profanely 



14 The Life and Death of 

Of you, my noble cousin, Lord Aumerle; 64 

Not sick, although I have to do with death, 

But lusty, young, and cheerly drawing breath. 

Lo! as at English feasts, so I regreet 

The daintiest last, to make the end most sweet: 68 

O thou, the earthly author of my blood, 

Whose youthful spirit, in me regenerate, 

Doth with a two-fold vigour lift me up 

To reach at victory above my head, 72 

Add proof unto mine armour with thy prayers, 

And with thy blessings steel my lance's point, 

That it may enter Mowbray's waxen coat, 

And furbish new the name of John a Gaunt, 76 

Even in the lusty haviour of his son. 

Gaunt. God in thy good cause make thee pros- 
perous ! 
Be swift like lightning in the execution; 
And let thy blows, doubly redoubled, 80 

Fall like amazing thunder on the casque 
Of thy adverse pernicious enemy: 
Rouse up thy youthful blood, be valiant and live. 

Boling. Mine innocency and Saint George to 
thrive ! 84 

[He takes his seat.] 

Mow. [Rising.] However God or fortune cast my 
lot, 
There lives or dies, true to King Richard's throne, 
A loyal, just, and upright gentleman. 
Never did captive with a freer heart 88 

Cast off his chains of bondage and embrace 
His golden uncontroll'd enfranchisement, 

67 regreet: salute 69 thou: Gaunt 

70 regenerate: born again 73 proof : impenetrability 

75 waxen: become soft as wax 76 furbish: brighten 

77 lusty: vigorous, manly haviour: conduct 

84 to thrive: help me to succeed 90 enfranchisement: release 



King Richard the Second, I. Hi is 

More than my dancing soul doth celebrate 

This feast of battle with mine adversary. 92 

Most mighty liege, and my companion peers, 

Take from my mouth the wish of happy years. 

As gentle and as jocund as to jest, 

Go I to fight: truth has a quiet breast. 96 

K.Rich. Farewell, my lord: securely I espy 
Virtue with valour couched in thine eye. 
Order the trial, marshal, and begin. 

[The King and the Lords take their seats. ] 
Mar. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and 
Derby, 100 

Receive thy lance; and God defend the right! 

Boling. [Rising.'] Strong as a tower in hope, I cry 

'amen/ 
Mar. [To an Officer. ,] Go bear this lance to 

Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. 
First Her. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and 
Derby, 104 

Stands here for God, his sovereign, and himself, 
On pain to be found false and recreant, 
To prove the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, 
A traitor to his God, his king, and him; 108 

And dares him to set forward to the fight. 

Sec. Her. Here standeth Thomas Mowbray, Duke 
of Norfolk, 
On pain to be found false and recreant, 
Both to defend himself and to approve 112 

Henry of Hereford, Lancaster, and Derby, 
To God, his sovereign, and to him, disloyal; 
Courageously and with a free desire, 
Attending but the signal to begin. 116 

98 couched: lying 99 Order: take charge of 

106 On pain to be: under penalty of being 112 approve: prove 

116 Attending: awaiting 



16 The Life and Death of 

Mar. Sound, trumpets; and set forward, combat- 
ants. A charge sounded. 
Stay, the king hath thrown his warder down. 

K. Rich. Let them lay by their helmets and their 
spears, 
And both return back to their chairs again: 120 

Withdraw with us; and let the trumpets sound 
While we return these dukes what we decree. 

A long flourish. 

[To the Combatants.'] Draw near, 
And list what with our council we have done. 124 
For that our kingdom's earth should not be soil'd 
With that dear blood which it hath fostered; 
And for our eyes do hate the dire aspect 
Of civil wounds plough'd up with neighbours' 
swords ; 128 

And for we think the eagle-winged pride 
Of sky-aspiring and ambitious thoughts, 
With rival-hating envy, set on you 
To wake our peace, which in our country's cradle 132 
Draws the sweet infant breath of gentle sleep ; 
Which so rous'd up with boist'rous untun'd drums, 
With harsh-resounding trumpets' dreadful bray, 
And grating shock of wrathful iron arms, 136 

Might from our quiet confines fright fair peace 
And make us wade even in our kindred's blood: 
Therefore, we banish you our territories: 
You, cousin Hereford, upon pain of life, 140 

Till twice five summers have enrich'd our fields, 
Shall not regreet our fair dominions, 

118 warder: ceremonial baton 121 Withdraw; cf. n. 

122 return : say in answer to 125 For that: in order that 

127, 129 for: because 128 civil: received in civil war 

131 set on you: set you on 134 Which; cf.n. 
142 regreet: greet again 



King Richard the Second , I. Hi i? 

But tread the stranger paths of banishment. 

Boling. Your will be done: this must my comfort 
be, 144 

That sun that warms you here shall shine on me; 
And those his golden beams to you here lent 
Shall point on me and gild my banishment. 

K. Rich. Norfolk, for thee remains a heavier 
doom, 148 

Which I with some unwillingness pronounce: 
The sly slow hours shall not determinate 
The dateless limit of thy dear exile; 
The hopeless word of 'never to return' 152 

Breathe I against thee, upon pain of life. 

Mow. A heavy sentence, my most sovereign liege, 
And all unlook'd for from your highness' mouth: 
A dearer merit, not so deep a maim 156 

As to be cast forth in the common air, 
Have I deserved at your highness' hands. 
The language I have learn'd these forty years, 
My native English, now I must forgo ; 160 

And now my tongue's use is to me no more 
Than an unstringed viol or a harp, 
Or like a cunning instrument cas'd up, 
Or, being open, put into his hands 164 

That knows no touch to tune the harmony: 
Within my mouth you have engaol'd my tongue, 
Doubly portcullis'd with my teeth and lips; 
And dull, unfeeling, barren ignorance 168 

Is made my gaoler to attend on me. 
I am too old to fawn upon a nurse, 
Too far in years to be a pupil now: 
What is thy sentence then but speechless death, 172 

143 stranger: foreign 147 point on : aim at 150 sly: stealthy 

156 dearer merit: more precious reward maim: disabling blow 

166 engaol'd: imprisoned 



is The Life and Death of 

Which robs my tongue from breathing native breath? 

K. Rich. It boots thee not to be compassionate : 
After our sentence plaining comes too late. 

Mow. Then, thus I turn me from my country's 
light, 176 

To dwell in solemn shades of endless night. 

K. Rich. Return again, and take an oath with 
thee. 
Lay on our royal sword your banish' d hands ; 
Swear by the duty that you owe to God — 180 

Our part therein we banish with yourselves — 
To keep the oath that we administer: 
You never shall, — so help you truth and God ! — 
Embrace each other's love in banishment; 184 

Nor never look upon each other's face; 
Nor never write, regreet, nor reconcile 
This low'ring tempest of your home-bred hate; 
Nor never by advised purpose meet 188 

To plot, contrive, or complot any ill 
'Gainst us, our state, our subjects, or our land. 

Boling. I swear. 

Mow. And I, to keep all this. 192 

Boling. Norfolk, so far, as to mine enemy: — 
By this time, had the king permitted us, 
One of our souls had wander'd in the air, 
Banish'd this frail sepulchre of our flesh, 196 

As now our flesh is banish'd from this land: 
Confess thy treasons ere thou fly the realm; 
Since thou hast far to go, bear not along 
The clogging burden of a guilty soul. 200 

Mow. No, Bolingbroke: if ever I were traitor, 
My name be blotted from the book of life, 
And I from heaven banish'd as from hence ! 

174 boots: avails compassionate; cf. n. 

175 plaining: complaining 



King Richard the Second, I. Hi 19 

But what thou art,, God, thou, and I do know; 204 
And all too soon, I fear, the king shall rue. 
Farewell, my liege. Now no way can I stray; 
Save back to England, all the worlds my way. 

Exit. 

K. Rich. Uncle, even in the glasses of thine 
eyes 208 

I see thy grieved heart: thy sad aspect 
Hath from the number of his banish'd years 
Pluck'd four away. — [To Bolingbrohe.] Six frozen 

winters spent, 
Return with welcome home from banishment. 212 

Boling. How long a time lies in one little word ! 
Four lagging winters and four wanton springs 
End in a word: such is the breath of kings. 

Gaunt. I thank my liege, that in regard of me 216 
He shortens four years of my son's exile; 
But little vantage shall I reap thereby: 
For, ere the six years that he hath to spend 
Can change their moons and bring their times 
about, 220 

My oil-dried lamp and time-bewasted light 
Shall be extinct with age and endless night; 
My inch of taper will be burnt and done, 
And blindfold death not let me see my son. 224 

K. Rich. Why, uncle, thou hast many years to live. 

Gaunt. But not a minute, king, that thou canst 
give: 
Shorten my days thou canst with sullen sorrow, 
And pluck nights from me, but not lend a mor- 
row ; 228 
Thou canst help time to furrow me with age, 

206 stray: get lost 208 glasses: eyeballs 

216 in regard of: out of consideration for 
221 oil-dried: with oil exhausted 



20 The Life and Death of 

But stop no wrinkle in his pilgrimage; 

Thy word is current with him for my death, 

But dead, thy kingdom cannot buy my breath. 232 

K. Rich. Thy son is banish'd upon good advice, 
Whereto thy tongue a party-verdict gave : 
Why at our justice seem'st thou then to lower? 

Gaunt. Things sweet to taste prove in digestion 
sour. 236 

You urg'd me as a judge; but I had rather 
You would have bid me argue like a father. 
O ! had it been a stranger, not my child, 
To smooth his fault I should have been more mild : 240 
A partial slander sought I to avoid, 
And in the sentence my own life destroy'd. 
Alas ! I look'd when some of you should say, 
I was too strict to make mine own away; 244 

But you gave leave to my unwilling tongue 
Against my will to do myself this wrong. 

K.Rich. Cousin, farewell; and uncle, bid him so: 
Six years we banish him, and he shall go. 248 

Exit [King Richard]. Flourish. 

Aum. Cousin, farewell: what presence must not 
know, 
From where you do remain let paper show. 

Mar. My lord, no leave take I; for I will ride, 
As far as land will let me, by your side. 252 

Gaunt. O! to what purpose dost thou hoard thy 
words, 
That thou return' st no greeting to thy friends ? 

Boling. I have too few to take my leave of you, 
When the tongue's office should be prodigal 256 

To breathe the abundant dolour of the heart. 

234 party-verdict: share in joint verdict 239-242 Cf.n. 

240 smooth : gloss over 

241 partial slander: slanderous charge of partiality 

249 presence: the king's presence 257 dolour: grief 



King Richard the Second, I. Hi 21 

Gaunt. Thy grief is but thy absence for a time. 

Boling. Joy absent, grief is present for that time. 

Gaunt. What is six winters? they are quickly 
gone. 260 

Boling. To men in joy; but grief makes one hour 
ten. 

Gaunt. Call it a travel that thou tak'st for pleas- 
ure. 

Boling. My heart will sigh when I miscall it so, 
Which finds it an inforced pilgrimage. 264 

Gaunt. The sullen passage of thy weary steps 
Esteem as foil wherein thou art to set 
The precious jewel of thy home return. 

Boling. Nay, rather, every tedious stride I 
make 268 

Will but remember me what a deal of world 
I wander from the jewels that I love. 
Must I not serve a long apprenticehood 
To foreign passages, and in the end, 272 

Having my freedom, boast of nothing else 
But that I was a journeyman to grief? 

Gaunt. All places that the eye of heaven visits 
Are to a wise man ports and happy havens. 276 

Teach thy necessity to reason thus ; 
There is no virtue like necessity. 
Think not the king did banish thee, 
But thou the king. Woe doth the heavier sit, 280 
Where it perceives it is but faintly borne. 
Go, say I sent thee forth to purchase honour, 
And not the king exil'd thee ; or suppose 
Devouring pestilence hangs in our air, 284 

266 io\\: contrasting setting for a jewel 268-293 Cf.App.C 

269 remember: remind 272 passages: wanderings 

274 journeyman; cf. n. 281 faintly: faint-heartedly 
282 purchase: win 



22 The Life and Death of 

And thou art flying to a fresher clime. 

Look, what thy soul holds dear, imagine it 

To lie that way thou go'st, not whence thou com'st. 

Suppose the singing birds musicians, 288 

The grass whereon thou tread'st the presence strew'd, 

The flowers fair ladies, and thy steps no more 

Than a delightful measure or a dance; 

For gnarling sorrow hath less power to bite 292 

The man that mocks at it and sets it light. 

Boling. O ! who can hold a fire in his hand 
By thinking on the frosty Caucasus? 
Or cloy the hungry edge of appetite 296 

By bare imagination of a feast? 
Or wallow naked in December snow 
By thinking on fantastic summer's heat? 
O, no! the apprehension of the good 300 

Gives but the greater feeling to the worse : 
Fell sorrow's tooth doth never rankle more 
Than when it bites, but lanceth not the sore. 

Gaunt. Come, come, my son, I'll bring thee on thy 
way. 304 

Had I thy youth and cause, I would not stay. 

Boling. Then, England's ground, farewell; sweet 
soil, adieu: 
My mother, and my nurse, that bears me yet ! 
Where'er I wander, boast of this I can, 308 

Though banish'd, yet a true-born Englishman. 

Exeunt. 

289 presence: royal presence-chamber strew'd: i.e., with rushes 

or Hozvers 291 measure : a grave and formal dance 

292 gnarling: snarling 293 sets it light : regards it lightly 

299 fantastic: imagined 300 apprehension: conception 

304 bring: accompany 305 stay: delay 



King Richard the Second, I. iv 23 

Scene Four 
{London. A Room in the King's Castle] 

Enter the King with Bushy, fyc, at one door, and 
the Lord Aumerle at another. 

K. Rich. We did observe. Cousin Aumerle, 
How far brought you high Hereford on his way? 

Aum. I brought high Hereford, if you call him so, 
But to the next highway, and there I left him. 4 

K. Rich. And say, what store of parting tears were 
shed? 

Aum. Faith, none for me; except the northeast 
wind, 
Which then blew bitterly against our faces, 
Awak'd the sleeping rheum, and so by chance 8 

Did grace our hollow parting with a tear. 

K. Rich. What said our cousin when you parted 
with him? 

Aum. 'Farewell': 
And, for my heart disdained that my tongue 12 
Should so profane the word, that taught me craft 
To counterfeit oppression of such grief 
That words seem'd buried in my sorrow's grave. 
Marry, would the word 'farewell' have lengthen'd 
hours 16 

And added years to his short banishment, 
He should have had a volume of farewells ; 
But, since it would not, he had none of me. 

K. Rich. He is our cousin, cousin ; but 'tis doubt, 20 
When time shall call him home from banishment, 
Whether our kinsman come to see his friends. 
Ourself and Bushy, Bagot here and Green 

2 high: arrogant 8 rheum: watery secretion of the eyes 

12-14 Cf. n. 



24 The Life and Death of 

Observ'd his courtship to the common people, 24 

How he did seem to dive into their hearts 

With humble and familiar courtesy, 

What reverence he did throw away on slaves, 

Wooing poor craftsmen with the craft of smiles 28 

And patient underbearing of his fortune, 

As 'twere to banish their affects with him. 

Off goes his bonnet to an oyster-wench ; 

A brace of draymen bid God speed him well, 32 

And had the tribute of his supple knee, 

With 'Thanks, my countrymen, my loving friends' ; 

As were our England in reversion his, 

And he our subjects' next degree in hope. 36 

Green. Well, he is gone; and with him go these 
thoughts. 
Now for the rebels which stand out in Ireland; 
Expedient manage must be made, my liege, 
Ere further leisure yield them further means 40 

For their advantage and your highness' loss. 

K. Rich. We will ourself in person to this war. 
And, for our coffers with too great a court 
And liberal largess are grown somewhat light, 44 
We are enforc'd to farm our royal realm; 
The revenue whereof shall furnish us 
For our affairs in hand. If that come short, 
Our substitutes at home shall have blank charters ; 48 
Whereto, when they shall know what men are rich, 
They shall subscribe them for large sums of gold, 
And send them after to supply our wants ; 
For we will make for Ireland presently. 52 

29 underbearing: enduring 30 affects: kind feelings 

35 reversion: destined to come into his possession 

39 Expedient: expeditious manage: arrangement 

43 court; cf. n. 44 largess: bestowal of gifts 

45 farm; cf. n. 48 Cf. n. 52 presently: at once 



King Richard the Second, II. i 25 

Enter Bushy. 

Bushy, what news ? 

Bushy. Old John of Gaunt is grievous sick, my 
lord, 
Suddenly taken, and hath sent post-haste 
To entreat your majesty to visit him. 56 

K. Rich. Where lies he ? 

Bushy. At Ely House. 

K. Rich. Now, put it, God, in his physician's mind 
To help him to his grave immediately! 60 

The lining of his coffers shall make coats 
To deck our soldiers for these Irish wars. 
Come, gentlemen, let's all go visit him: 
Pray God we may make haste, and come too late. 64 

[AIL] Amen. Exeunt. 



ACT SECOND 

Scene One 

[London. An Apartment in Ely House] 

Enter Gaunt, sick, with York. 

Gaunt. Will the king come, that I may breathe my 
last 
In wholesome counsel to his unstaid youth? 

York. Vex not yourself, nor strive not with your 
breath ; 
For all in vain comes counsel to his ear. 4 

Gaunt. O ! but they say the tongues of dying men 
Enforce attention like deep harmony: 

2 unstaid: uncontrolled; cf. n. 



26 The Life and Death of 

Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in 

vain. 
For they breathe truth that breathe their words in 

pain. 8 

He that no more must say is listen'd more 

Than they whom youth and ease have taught to 

glose ; 
More are men's ends mark'd than their lives before: 
The setting sun, and music at the close, 12 

As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last, 
Writ in remembrance more than things long past: 
Though Richard my life's counsel would not hear, 
My death's sad tale may yet undeaf his ear. l« 

York. No ; it is stopp'd with other flattering sounds, 
As praises, of whose taste the wise are fond ; 
Lascivious metres, to whose venom sound 
The open ear of youth doth always listen ; 20 

Report of fashions in proud Italy, 
Whose manners still our tardy apish nation 
Limps after in base imitation. 

Where doth the world thrust forth a vanity, — 24 

So it be new there's no respect how vile, — 
That is not quickly buzz'd into his ears? 
Then all too late comes counsel to be heard, 
Where will doth mutiny with wit's regard. 28 

Direct not him whose way himself will choose: 
'Tis breath thou lack'st, and that breath wilt thou 

lose. 
Gaunt. Methinks I am a prophet new inspir'd, 
And thus expiring do foretell of him: 32 

His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last, 

9 listen'd: heeded 10 glose: dissimulate 
11 mark'd: observed 13 As: like 18 Cf. n. 
25 respect: care 26 buzz'd: whispered 
28 mutiny: quarrel wit's regard: deliberate judgment of the under- 
standing 33 riot: unrestrained behavior 



King Richard the Second, II. i 



27 



40 



44 



48 



For violent fires soon burn out themselves; 
Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short ; 
He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes; 36 

With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder: 
Light vanity, insatiate cormorant, 
Consuming means, soon preys upon itself. 
This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, 
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, 
This other Eden, demi-paradise, 
This fortress built by Nature for herself 
Against infection and the hand of war, 
This happy breed of men, this little world, 
This precious stone set in the silver sea, 
Which serves it in the office of a wall, 
Or as a moat defensive to a house, 
Against the envy of less happier lands, 
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this Eng- 
land, 
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings, 
Fear'd by their breed and famous by their birth, 52 
Renowned for their deeds as far from home, — 
For Christian service and true chivalry, — 
As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry 
Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's Son: 56 

This land of such dear souls, this dear, dear land, 
Dear for her reputation through the world, 
Is now leas'd out, — I die pronouncing it, — 
Like to a tenement, or pelting farm: 60 

England, bound in with the triumphant sea, 
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege 
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame, 



36 betimes: early 

41 earth: country 

49 less happier: less happy 

55 Jewry: Palestine 

60 pelting: paltry 



38 cormorant: a gluttonous bird 

47 office : function 

52 by: because of 

56 ransom: Redeemer 



28 The Life and Death of 

With inky blots, and rotten parchment bonds: 64 

That England, that was wont to conquer others, 

Hath made a shameful conquest of itself. 

Ah ! would the scandal vanish with my life, 

How happy then were my ensuing death. 68 

Enter King, Queen, Aumerle, Bushy, Green, Bagot, 
Ross, and Willoughby. 

York. The king is come: deal mildly with his 
youth ; 
For young hot colts, being rag'd, do rage the more. 

Queen. How fares our noble uncle, Lancaster? 

K. Rich. What comfort, man ? How is 't with aged 
Gaunt? 72 

Gaunt. O ! how that name befits my composition ; 
Old Gaunt indeed, and gaunt in being old: 
Within me grief hath kept a tedious fast ; 
And who abstains from meat that is not gaunt? 76 
For sleeping England long time have I watch'd; 
Watching breeds leanness, leanness is all gaunt. 
The pleasure that some fathers feed upon 
Is my strict fast, I mean my children's looks; 80 

And therein fasting hast thou made me gaunt. 
Gaunt am I for the grave, gaunt as a grave, 
Whose hollow womb inherits naught but bones. 

K. Rich. Can sick men play so nicely with their 
names ? 84 

Gaunt. No; misery makes sport to mock itself: 
Since thou dost seek to kill my name in me, 
I mock my name, great king, to flatter thee. 

K. Rich. Should dying men flatter with those that 
live ? 88 

Gaunt. No, no; men living flatter those that die. 

70 rag'd: enraged 73 composition: constitution 

84 nicely: triflingly 



King Richard the Second, II. i 29 

K. Rich. Thou, now a-dying, sayst thou flatter'st 
me. 

Gaunt. O, no ! thou diest, though I the sicker be. 

K. Rich. I am in health, I breathe, and see thee 
ill. 92 

Gaunt. Now, he that made me knows I see thee 
ill; 
111 in myself to see, and in thee seeing ill. 
Thy death-bed is no lesser than thy land 
Wherein thou liest in reputation sick: 96 

And thou, too careless patient as thou art, 
Committ'st thy anointed body to the cure 
Of those physicians that first wounded thee: 
A thousand flatterers sit within thy crown, 100 

Whose compass is no bigger than thy head; 
And yet, incaged in so small a verge, 
The waste is no whit lesser than thy land. 
O ! had thy grandsire, with a prophet's eye, 104 

Seen how his son's son should destroy his sons, 
From forth thy reach he would have laid thy shame, 
Deposing thee before thou wert possess'd, 
Which art possess'd now to depose thyself. 108 

Why, cousin, wert thou regent of the world, 
It were a shame to let this land by lease ; 
But for thy world enjoying but this land, 
Is it not more than shame to shame it so? 112 

Landlord of England art thou now, not king: 
Thy state of law is bond-slave to the law, 
And— 

K. Rich. And thou a lunatic lean-witted fool, 
Presuming on an ague's privilege, lis 

Dar'st with thy frozen admonition 

94 Cf. n. 101 compass: circumference 

102 verge: circle 103 waste; cf. n. 

107 possess'd; cf. n. 114 state of law: legal status; cf. n. 



so The Life and Death of 

Make pale our cheek, chasing the royal blood 
With fury from his native residence. 
Now, by my seat's right royal majesty, 120 

Wert thou not brother to great Edward's son, 
This tongue that runs so roundly in thy head 
Should run thy head from thy unreverent shoulders. 

Gaunt. O ! spare me not, my brother Edward's 
son, 124 

For that I was his father Edward's son. 
That blood already, like the pelican, 
Hast thou tapp'd out and drunkenly carous'd: 
My brother Gloucester, plain well-meaning soul, — 128 
Whom fair befall in heaven 'mongst happy souls ! — 
May be a precedent and witness good 
That thou respect'st not spilling Edward's blood: 
Join with the present sickness that I have; 132 

And thy unkindness be like crooked age, 
To crop at once a too-long wither'd flower. 
Live in thy shame, but die not shame with thee ! 
These words hereafter thy tormentors be! 136 

Convey me to my bed, then to my grave: 
Love they to live that love and honour have. 

Exit [borne off by his Attendants]. 

K. Rich. And let them die that age and suliens 
have; 
For both hast thou, and both become the grave. 140 

York. I do beseech your majesty, impute his words 
To wayward sickliness and age in him: 
He loves you, on my life, and holds you dear 
As Harry, Duke of Hereford, were he here. 144 

K.Rich. Right, you say true: as Hereford's love, 
so his; 

121 SeeApp.F 126 pelican; cf. n. 

127 carous'd: drunk down 129 fair befall: may favor attend 

131 respect'st not: hast no scruples about 139 suliens: sulks, dumps 



King Richard the Second, II. i 31 

As theirs, so mine; and all be as it is. 
Enter Northumberland. 

North. My liege, old Gaunt commends him to your 
ma j esty. 

K.Rich. What says he? 148 

North. Nay, nothing; all is said: 
His tongue is now a stringless instrument; 
Words, life, and all, old Lancaster hath spent. 

York. Be York the next that must be bankrupt 
so ! 152 

Though death be poor, it ends a mortal woe. 

K. Rich. The ripest fruit first falls, and so doth he: 
His time is spent; our pilgrimage must be. 
So much for that. Now for our Irish wars. 156 

We must supplant those rough rug-headed kerns, 
Which live like venom where no venom else 
But only they have privilege to live. 
And for these great affairs do ask some charge, 160 
Towards our assistance we do seize to us 
The plate, coin, revenues, and moveables, 
Whereof our uncle Gaunt did stand possess'd. 

York. How long shall I be patient? Ah! how 
long 164 

Shall tender duty make me suffer wrong? 
Not Gloucester's death, nor Hereford's banishment, 
Not Gaunt's rebukes, nor England's private wrongs, 
Nor the prevention of poor Bolingbroke 168 

About his marriage, nor my own disgrace, 
Have ever made me sour my patient cheek, 
Or bend one wrinkle on my sovereign's face. 

155 must be: has to continue 

157 rug-headed: shock-haired kerns: half-wild Irish clansmen 

158 venom: poisonous snakes; cf. n. 160 charge: expenditure 
168 prevention: forestalling; cf. n. 

170 sour . . . cheek: look sullen 



32 The Life and Death of 

I am the last of noble Edward's sons, 172 

Of whom thy father, Prince of Wales, was first ; 

In war was never lion rag'd more fierce, 

In peace was never gentle lamb more mild, 

Than was that young and princely gentleman. 176 

His face thou hast, for even so look'd he, 

Accomplish'd with the number of thy hours; 

But when he frown'd, it was against the French, 

And not against his friends; his noble hand 180 

Did win what he did spend, and spent not that 

Which his triumphant father's hand had won: 

His hands were guilty of no kindred blood, 

But bloody with the enemies of his kin. 184 

O, Richard ! York is too far gone with grief, 

Or else he never would compare between. 

K. Rich. Why, uncle, what's the matter ? 

York. O ! my liege. 

Pardon me, if you please; if not, I, pleas'd 188 

Not to be pardon'd, am content withal. 
Seek you to seize and gripe into your hands 
The royalties and rights of banish'd Hereford? 
Is not Gaunt dead, and doth not Hereford live? 192 
Was not Gaunt just, and is not Harry true? 
Did not the one deserve to have an heir? 
Is not his heir a well-deserving son? 
Take Hereford's rights away, and take from Time 196 
His charters and his customary rights; 
Let not to-morrow then ensue to-day; 
Be not thyself; for how art thou a king 
But by fair sequence and succession? 200 

Now, afore God, — God forbid I say true! — 
If you do wrongfully seize Hereford's rights, 
Call in the letters-patents that he hath 

178 Accomplish'd, etc. : at your age 191 royalties: prerogatives 

198 ensue: succeed 203 letters-patents; cf. n. 



King Richard the Second, II. i 33 

By his attorneys-general to sue 204 

His livery, and deny his offer'd homage, 

You pluck a thousand dangers on your head, 

You lose a thousand well-disposed hearts, 

And prick my tender patience to those thoughts 208 

Which honour and allegiance cannot think. 

K. Rich. Think what you will : we seize into our 
hands 
His plate, his goods, his money, and his lands. 

York. I'll not be by the while: my liege, fare- 
well: 212 
What will ensue hereof, there's none can tell; 
But by bad courses may be understood 
That their events can never fall out good. Exit. 

K. Rich. Go, Bushy, to the Earl of Wiltshire 
straight : 216 

Bid him repair to us to Ely House 
To see this business. To-morrow next 
We will for Ireland; and 'tis time, I trow: 
And we create, in absence of ourself, 220 

Our uncle York lord governor of England; 
For he is just, and always lov'd us well. 
Come on, our queen: to-morrow must we part; 
Be merry, for our time of stay is short. 224 

Flourish. Exeunt King and Queen [and 
Others]. Manent Northumberland], 
Willoughby, and Ross. 

North. Well, lords, the Duke of Lancaster is dead. 

Ross. And living too; for now his son is duke. 

Willo. Barely in title, not in revenues. 

North. Richly in both, if justice had her right. 228 

204 attorneys-general: proxies 204,205 sue . . . livery; cf. n. 

213 ensue: come as the consequence 215 events: out come 

216 Earl of Wiltshire: Lord Treasurer of England 
219 I trow: I dare say 224 S. d. Manent: remain 



The Life and Death of 



Ross. My heart is great; but it must break with 
silence, 
Ere 't be disburdened with a liberal tongue. 

North. Nay, speak thy mind; and let him ne'er 
speak more 
That speaks thy words again to do thee harm ! 232 
Willo. Tends that thou'dst speak to the Duke of 
Hereford ? 
If it be so, out with it boldly, man ; 
Quick is mine ear to hear of good towards him. 

Ross. No good at all that I can do for him, 236 
Unless you call it good to pity him, 
Bereft and gelded of his patrimony. 

North. Now, afore God, 'tis shame such wrongs 
are borne 
In him, a royal prince, and many moe 240 

Of noble blood in this declining land. 
The king is not himself, but basely led 
By flatterers; and what they will inform, 
Merely in hate, 'gainst any of us all, 244 

That will the king severely prosecute 
'Gainst us, our lives, our children, and our heirs. 
Ross. The commons hath he pill'd with grievous 
taxes, 
And quite lost their hearts: the nobles hath he 
fin'd 248 

For ancient quarrels, and quite lost their hearts. 

Willo. And daily new exactions are devis'd; 
As blanks, benevolences, and I wot not what: 
But what, o' God's name, doth become of this? 252 
North. Wars have not wasted it, for warr'd he 
hath not, 

230 liberal : free-speaking 238 gelded: deprived 
240 In: against moe: old form of 'more' 

243 inform: report slanderously 247 pill'd: robbed 

248 Cf. n. 251 blanks; cf. n. on I. iv. 48 benevolences; cf. n. 



King Richard the Second^ II. i 35 

But basely yielded upon compromise 

That which his ancestors achiev'd with blows. 

More hath he spent in peace than they in wars. 256 

Ross. The Earl of Wiltshire hath the realm in 
farm. 

JVillo. The king's grown bankrupt, like a broken 
man. 

North. Reproach and dissolution hangeth over him. 

Ross. He hath not money for these Irish wars, 260 
His burdenous taxations notwithstanding, 
But by robbing of the banish'd duke. 

North. His noble kinsman: most degenerate king! 
But, lords, we hear this fearful tempest sing, 264 

Yet seek no shelter to avoid the storm ; 
We see the wind sit sore upon our sails, 
And yet we strike not, but securely perish. 

Ross. We see the very wrack that we must suf- 
fer ; 268 
And unavoided is the danger now, 
For suffering so the causes of our wrack. 

North. Not so: even through the hollow eyes of 
death 
I spy life peering; but I dare not say 272 

How near the tidings of our comfort is. 

JVillo. Nay, let us share thy thoughts, as thou dost 
ours. 

Ross. Be confident to speak, Northumberland: 
We three are but thyself: and, speaking so, 276 

Thy words are but as thoughts ; therefore, be bold. 

North. Then thus: I have from Port le Blanc, a 
bay 

254 compromise; cf.n. 

267 strike: lower sail securely: in false confidence 

268 wrack: destruction 269 unavoided: unavoidable 
270 suffering: bearing patiently 



36 The Life and Death of 

In Brittany, receiv'd intelligence 
That Harry Duke of Hereford, Rainold Lord Cob- 
ham, 280 
That late broke from the Duke of Exeter, 
His brother, Archbishop late of Canterbury, 
Sir Thomas Erpingham, Sir John Ramston, 
Sir John Norbery, Sir Robert Waterton, and Francis 
Quoint, 284 
All these well furnish'd by the Duke of Britaine, 
With eight tall ships, three thousand men of war, 
Are making hither with all due expedience, 
And shortly mean to touch our northern shore. 288 
Perhaps they had ere this, but that they stay 
The first departing of the king for Ireland. 
If then we shall shake off our slavish yoke, 
Imp out our drooping country's broken wing, 292 
Redeem from broking pawn the blemish'd crown, 
Wipe off the dust that hides our sceptre's gilt, 
And make high majesty look like itself, 
Away with me in post to Ravenspurgh; 296 
But if you faint, as fearing to do so, 
Stay and be secret, and myself will go. 

Ross. To horse, to horse ! urge doubts to them that 

fear. 
Willo. Hold out my horse, and I will first be 
there. 300 

Exeunt. 

282 His brother; cf. n. 285 Britaine: Brittany 

286 tall: powerful 287 expedience: speed 

290 first: prior 292 Imp; cf. n. 

293 broking pawn : pledge 296 post: haste 
300 Hold . . . and: if my horse can stand it 



King Richard the Second, II. ii 37 

Scene Two 
[Near Windsor Castle~\ 

Enter Queen, Bushy, and Bagot. 

Bushy. Madam, your majesty is too much sad: 
You promis'd, when you parted with the king, 
To lay aside life-harming heaviness, 
And entertain a cheerful disposition. 4 

Queen. To please the king I did; to please myself 
I cannot do it ; yet I know no cause 
Why I should welcome such a guest as grief, 
Save bidding farewell to so sweet a guest 8 

As my sweet Richard: yet, again, methinks, 
Some unborn sorrow, ripe in fortune's womb, 
Is coming towards me, and my inward soul 
With nothing trembles; at some thing it grieves 12 
More than with parting from my lord the king. 

Bushy. Each substance of a grief hath twenty 
shadows, 
Which shows like grief itself, but is not so. 
For sorrow's eye, glazed with blinding tears, 16 

Divides one thing entire to many objects; 
Like perspectives, which rightly gaz'd upon 
Show nothing but confusion ; ey'd awry 
Distinguish form: so your sweet majesty, 20 

Looking awry upon your lord's departure, 
Finds shapes of grief more than himself to wail; 
Which, look'd on as it is, is nought but shadows 
Of what it is not. Then, thrice-gracious queen, 24 
More than your lord's departure weep not: more's not 

seen; 
Or if it be, 'tis with false sorrow's eye, 

Scene Two; cf. n. 3 heaviness: sadness 15 shows: appears 

18 perspectives; cf. n. 20 Distinguish: show distinctly 



88 The Life and Death of 

Which for things true weeps things imaginary. 

Queen. It may be so ; but yet my inward soul 28 
Persuades me it is otherwise: howe'er it be, 
I cannot but be sad, so heavy sad, 
As, though in thinking on no thought I think, 
Makes me with heavy nothing faint and shrink. 32 

Bushy. 'Tis nothing but conceit, my gracious lady. 

Queen. 'Tis nothing less: conceit is still deriv'd 
From some forefather grief; mine is not so, 
For nothing hath begot my something grief; 36 

Or something hath the nothing that I grieve: 
'Tis in reversion that I do possess; 
But what it is, that is not yet known; what 
I cannot name; 'tis nameless woe, I wot. 40 

Enter Green. 

Green. God save your majesty! and well met, gen- 
tlemen : 
I hope the king is not yet shipp'd for Ireland. 

Queen. Why hop'st thou so? 'tis better hope he is, 
For his designs crave haste, his haste good hope : 44 
Then wherefore dost thou hope he is not shipp'd? 

Green. That he, our hope, might have retir'd his 
power, 
And driven into despair an enemy's hope, 
Who strongly hath set footing in this land: 48 

The banish'd Bolingbroke repeals himself, 
And with uplifted arms is safe arriv'd 
At Ravenspurgh. 

Queen. Now God in heaven forbid ! 

30-32 Cf. n. 33 conceit: fancy 

34 nothing less: that least of all still: always 

37 Cf.n. 38 reversion; cf. n. 40 wot: know 

46 retir'd: drawn back power: troops 

49 repeals: recalls from exile 



King Richard the Second, II. ii 39 

Green. Ah! madam, 'tis too true: and that is 

worse, 52 

The Lord Northumberland, his son young Henry 

Percy, 
The Lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby, 
With all their powerful friends, are fled to him. 

Bushy. Why have you not proclaim' d Northumber- 
land 56 
And all the rest revolted faction traitors? 

Green. We have: whereupon the Earl of Worcester 
Hath broke his staff, resign'd his stewardship, 
And all the household servants fled with him 60 

To Bolingbroke. 

Queen. So, Green, thou art the midwife to my woe, 
And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir: 
Now hath my soul brought forth her prodigy, 64 

And I, a gasping new-deliver'd mother, 
Have woe to woe, sorrow to sorrow join'd. 

Bushy. Despair not, madam. 

Queen. Who shall hinder me? 

I will despair, and be at enmity 68 

With cozening hope : he is a flatterer, 
A parasite, a keeper-back of death, 
Who gently would dissolve the bands of life, 
Which false hope lingers in extremity. 72 

Enter York. 

Green. Here comes the Duke of York. 

Queen. With signs of war about his aged neck: 
O ! full of careful business are his looks. 
Uncle, for God's sake, speak comfortable words. 76 

York. Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts: 

52 that: what 57 Cf. n. 

59 staff: mace of ofhce 69 cozening: cheating 

72 lingers: prolongs 75 careful: anxious 



40 The Life and Death of 

Comfort's in heaven; and we are on the earth, 
Where nothing lives but crosses, cares, and grief. 
Your husband, he is gone to save far off, 80 

Whilst others come to make him lose at home: 
Here am I left to underprop his land, 
Who, weak with age, cannot support myself. 
Now comes the sick hour that his surfeit made; 84 
Now shall he try his friends that flatter'd him. 

Enter a Servant. 

Serv. My lord, your son was gone before I came. 

York. He was ? Why, so ! go all which way it will ! 
The nobles they are fled, the commons they are 
cold, 88 

And will, I fear, revolt on Hereford's side. 
Sirrah, get thee to Plashy, to my sister Gloucester; 
Bid her send me presently a thousand pound. 
Hold, take my ring. 92 

Serv. My lord, I had forgot to tell your lordship: 
To-day, as I came by, I called there ; 
But I shall grieve you to report the rest. 

York. What is 't, knave ? 96 

Serv. An hour before I came the duchess died. 

York. God for his mercy ! what a tide of woes 
Comes rushing on this woeful land at once! 
I know not what to do: I would to God, — 100 

So my untruth had not provok'd him to it, — 
The king had cut off my head with my brother's. 
What! are there no posts dispatch'd for Ireland? 
How shall we do for money for these wars? 104 

Come, sister, — cousin, I would say, — pray, pardon 

me. — 
Go, fellow, get thee home ; provide some carts 

79 crosses: contrary circumstances 101 untruth: disloyalty 



King Richard the Second, II. ii 41 

And bring away the armour that is there. 

[Exit Servant."] 
Gentlemen, will you go muster men ? If I know 108 
How or which way to order these affairs 
Thus thrust disorderly into my hands, 
Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen: 
T' one is my sovereign, whom both my oath 112 

And duty bids defend; t' other again 
Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wrong' d, 
Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right. 
Well, somewhat we must do. Come, cousin, 116 

I'll dispose of you. Gentlemen, go muster up your 

men, 
And meet me presently at Berkeley Castle. 
I should to Plashy too: 

But time will not permit. All is uneven, 120 

And everything is left at six and seven. 

Exeunt [York and Queen]. 

Bushy. The wind sits fair for news to go to Ire- 
land, 
But none returns. For us to levy power 
Proportionable to the enemy 124 

Is all impossible. 

Green. Besides, our nearness to the king in love 
Is near the hate of those love not the king. 

Bagot. And that's the wavering commons ; for their 
love 128 

Lies in their purses, and whoso empties them, 
By so much fills their hearts with deadly hate. 

Bushy. Wherein the king stands generally con- 
demn'd. 

Bagot. If judgment lie in them, then so do we, 132 
Because we ever have been near the king. 

112 T one: the one 115 kindred: kinship 116,117 Cf.n. 

120 uneven: disordered 121 at six and seven: in confusion 



42 The Life and Death of 

Green. Well, 111 for refuge straight to Bristol 
Castle; 
The Earl of Wiltshire is already there. 

Bushy. Thither will I with you; for little office 136 
Will the hateful commons perform for us, 
Except like curs to tear us all to pieces. 
Will you go along with us ? 

Bagot. No; I will to Ireland to his majesty. 140 
Farewell: if heart's presages be not vain, 
We three here part that ne'er shall meet again. 

Bushy. That's as York thrives to beat back Boling- 
broke. 

Green. Alas, poor duke ! the task he undertakes 144 
Is numbering sands and drinking oceans dry: 
Where one on his side fights, thousands will fly. 
Farewell at once; for once, for all, and ever. 

Bushy. Well, we may meet again. 

Bagot. I fear me, never. 148 

Exeunt. 



Scene Three 

[Wilds in Gloucestershire] 

Enter the Duke of Hereford and Northumberland 
[with Forces], 

Boling. How far is it, my lord, to Berkeley now? 

North. Believe me, noble lord, 
I am a stranger here in Gloucestershire: 
These high wild hills and rough uneven ways 
Draws out our miles and makes them wearisome; 
But yet your fair discourse hath been as sugar, 
Making the hard way sweet and delectable. 
But I bethink me what a weary way i 



King Richard the Second, II. Hi ^ 

From Ravenspurgh to Cotswold will be found 
In Ross and Willoughby, wanting your company, 
Which, I protest, hath very much beguil'd 
The tediousness and process of my travel: 12 

But theirs is sweeten'd with the hope to have 
The present benefit which I possess; 
And hope to joy is little less in joy 
Than hope enjoy'd: by this the weary lords 16 

Shall make their way seem short, as mine hath done 
By sight of what I have, your noble company. 
Boling. Of much less value is my company 
Than your good words. But who comes here? 20 

Enter Henry Percy. 

North. It is my son, young Harry Percy, 
Sent from my brother Worcester, whencesoever. 
Harry, how fares your uncle? 

H. Percy. I had thought, my lord, to have learn'd 
his health of you. 24 

North. Why, is he not with the queen? 

H.Percy. No, my good lord; he hath forsook the 
court, 
Broken his staff of office, and dispers'd 
The household of the king. 

North. What was his reason? 28 

He was not so resolv'd when last we spake together. 

H. Percy. Because your lordship was proclaimed 
traitor. 
But he, my lord, is gone to Ravenspurgh, 
To offer service to the Duke of Hereford, 32 

And sent me over by Berkeley to discover 
What power the Duke of York had levied there; 
Then with directions to repair to Ravenspurgh. 

12 tediousness and process: tedious progress 21 young; cf. n. 



44 The Life and Death of 

North. Have you forgot the Duke of Hereford, 
boy ? 36 

H . Percy. No, my good lord ; for that is not forgot 
Which ne'er I did remember: to my knowledge 
I never in my life did look on him. 

North. Then learn to know him now: this is the 
duke. 40 

H. Percy. My gracious lord, I tender you my 
service, 
Such as it is, being tender, raw, and young, 
Which elder days shall ripen and confirm 
To more approved service and desert. 44 

Boling. I thank thee, gentle Percy; and be sure 
I count myself in nothing else so happy 
As in a soul remembering my good friends; 
And as my fortune ripens with thy love, 48 

It shall be still thy true love's recompense: 
My heart this covenant makes, my hand thus seals it. 

North. How far is it to Berkeley? and what stir 
Keeps good old York there with his men of war ? 52 

H. Percy. There stands the castle, by yon tuft of 
trees, 
Mann'd with three hundred men, as I have heard; 
And in it are the Lords of York, Berkeley, and Sey- 
mour; 
None else of name and noble estimate. 56 

Enter Ross and Willoughby. 

North. Here come the Lords of Ross and Wil- 
loughby, 
Bloody with spurring, fiery-red with haste. 

Boling. Welcome, my lords. I wot your love pur- 
sues 
A banish'd traitor; all my treasury 60 

44 approved: tested 51 stir: activity 



King Richard the Second, II. Hi 45 

Is yet but unfelt thanks, which, more enrich'd, 
Shall be your love and labour's recompense. 

Ross. Your presence makes us rich, most noble 

lord. 
Willo. And far surmounts our labour to attain it. 64 
Boling. Evermore thanks, the exchequer of the 
poor; 
Which, till my infant fortune comes to years, 
Stands for my bounty. But who comes here? 

Enter Berkeley. 

North. It is my Lord of Berkeley, as I guess. 68 

Berk. My lord of Hereford, my message is to you. 

Boling. My lord, my answer is — to Lancaster; 
And I am come to seek that name in England; 
And I must find that title in your tongue 72 

Before I make reply to aught you say. 

Berk. Mistake me not, my lord; 'tis not my mean- 
ing 
To raze one title of your honour out: 
To you, my lord, I come, what lord you will, 76 

From the most gracious regent of this land, 
The Duke of York, to know what pricks you on 
To take advantage of the absent time 
And fright our native peace with self-borne arms. 80 

Enter York [attended]. 

Boling. I shall not need transport my words by 
you: 
Here comes his Grace in person. 

My noble uncle! [Kneels.] 
York. Show me thy humble heart, and not thy 
knee, 

61 unfelt: not expressed in deeds 75 raze: erase 

79 absent time: time of (the king's) absence 

80 self-borne: borne for oneself 



46 The Life and Death of 

Whose duty is deceivable and false. 84 

Boling. My gracious uncle — 

York. Tut, tut! 
Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle: 
I am no traitor's uncle ; and that word 'grace' 88 

In an ungracious mouth is but profane. 
Why have those banish'd and forbidden legs 
Dar'd once to touch a dust of England's ground? 
But then, more 'why?' why have they dar'd to 
march 92 

So many miles upon her peaceful bosom, 
Frighting her pale-fac'd villages with war 
And ostentation of despised arms? 
Com'st thou because the anointed king is hence? 96 
Why, foolish boy, the king is left behind, 
And in my loyal bosom lies his power. 
Were I but now the lord of such hot youth 
As when brave Gaunt thy father, and myself, 100 
Rescu'd the Black Prince, that young Mars of men, 
From forth the ranks of many thousand French, 
O ! then, how quickly should this arm of mine, 
Now prisoner to the palsy, chastise thee 104 

And minister correction to thy fault! 

Boling. My gracious uncle, let me know my fault: 
On what condition stands it and wherein? 

York. Even in condition of the worst degree, 108 
In gross rebellion and detested treason: 
Thou art a banish'd man, and here art come 
Before the expiration of thy time, 
In braving arms against thy sovereign. 112 

Boling. As I was banish'd, I was banish'd Here- 
ford; 

84 deceivable: deceitful 95 despised: despicable 

105 minister: administer 112 braving: defiant 



King Richard the Second, II. Hi 47 

But as I come, I come for Lancaster. 

And, noble uncle, I beseech your Grace 

Look on my wrongs with an indifferent eye : 116 

You are my father, for methinks in you 

I see old Gaunt alive : O ! then, my father, 

Will you permit that I shall stand condemn'd 

A wandering vagabond; my rights and royalties 120 

Pluck'd from my arms perforce and given away 

To upstart unthrifts ? Wherefore was I born ? 

If that my cousin king be King of England, 

It must be granted I am Duke of Lancaster. 124 

You have a son, Aumerle, my noble cousin; 

Had you first died, and he been thus trod down, 

He should have found his uncle Gaunt a father, 

To rouse his wrongs and chase them to the bay. 128 

I am denied to sue my livery here, 

And yet my letters patents give me leave: 

My father's goods are all distrain'd and sold, 

And these and all are all amiss employ'd. 132 

What would you have me do? I am a subject, 

And challenge law: attorneys are denied me, 

And therefore personally I lay my claim 

To my inheritance of free descent. 136 

North. The noble duke hath been too much abus'd. 

Ross. It stands your Grace upon to do him right, 

Willo. Base men by his endowments are made 
great. 

York. My lords of England, let me tell you 
this : 140 

I have had feeling of my cousin's wrongs, 
And labour'd all I could to do him right; 

116 indifferent: impartial 122 unthrifts: ne'er-do-wells 

128 to the bay; cf. n. 131 distrain'd: confiscated 

134 challenge: claim as right 
138 stands . . . upon: is incumbent upon 



48 The Life and Death of 

But in this kind to come, in braving arms, 

Be his own carver and cut out his way, 144 

To find out right with wrong, it may not be; 

And you that do abet him in this kind 

Cherish rebellion and are rebels all. 

North. The noble duke hath sworn his coming 

is 148 

But for his own; and for the right of that 
We all have strongly sworn to give him aid; 
And let him ne'er see joy that breaks that oath! 

York. Well, well, I see the issue of these arms : 152 
I cannot mend it, I must needs confess, 
Because my power is weak and all ill left; 
But if I could, by him that gave me life, 
I would attach you all and make you stoop 156 

Unto the sovereign mercy of the king; 
But since I cannot, be it known to you 
I do remain as neuter. So, fare you well; 
Unless you please to enter in the castle 160 

And there repose you for this night. 

Boling. An offer, uncle, that we will accept: 
But we must win your grace to go with us 
To Bristol Castle; which they say is held 164 

By Bushy, Bagot, and their complices, 
The caterpillars of the commonwealth, 
Which I have sworn to weed and pluck away. 

York. It may be I will go with you; but yet I'll 
pause; 168 

For I am loath to break our country's laws. 
Nor friends nor foes, to me welcome you are; 
Things past redress are now with me past care. 

Exeunt. 

143 kind: manner 152 issue: outcome 

156 attach: arrest 159 neuter: neutral 

165 complices: confederates 167 weed: pick off 



King Richard the Second, II. iv 49 

Scene Four 

[A Camp in Wales] 

Enter Earl of Salisbury and a Welsh Captain. 

Cap. My Lord of Salisbury, we have stay'd ten 
days, 
And hardly kept our countrymen together, 
And yet we hear no tidings from the king; 
Therefore we will disperse ourselves: farewell. 4 

Sal. Stay yet another day, thou trusty Welshman: 
The king reposeth all his confidence in thee. 

Cap. 'Tis thought the king is dead: we will not 
stay. 
The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd 8 

And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven, 
The pale-fac'd moon looks bloody on the earth, 
And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change, 
Rich men look sad and ruffians dance and leap, 12 
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy, 
The other to enjoy by rage and war: 
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings. 
Farewell: our countrymen are gone and fled, 16 

As well assur'd Richard their king is dead. Exit. 

Sal. Ah, Richard! with the eyes of heavy mind 
I see thy glory like a shooting star 
Fall to the base earth from the firmament. 20 

Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west, 
Witnessing storms to come, woe, and unrest. 
Thy friends are fled to wait upon thy foes, 
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes. 24 

Exit. 

Scene Four ; cf. n. 

22 Witnessing: giving evidence of 24 crossly: contrary 



so The Life and Death of 

ACT THIRD 

Scene One 

[Bristol. Bolingbrohe's Camp'] 

Enter BolingbroJce, York, Northumberland, Ross, 
Percy, Willoughby, with Bushy and Green, 
prisoners. 

Boling. Bring forth these men. 
Bushy and Green, I will not vex your souls — 
Since presently your souls must part your bodies — 
With too much urging your pernicious lives, 4 

For 'twere no charity; yet, to wash your blood 
From off my hands, here in the view of men 

I will unfold some causes of your deaths. 

You have misled a prince, a royal king, 8 

A happy gentleman in blood and lineaments, 

By you unhappied and disfigur'd clean: 

You have in manner with your sinful hours 

Made a divorce betwixt his queen and him, 12 

Broke the possession of a royal bed, 

And stain'd the beauty of a fair queen's cheeks 

With tears drawn from her eyes by your foul 

wrongs. 
Myself, a prince by fortune of my birth, 16 

Near to the king in blood, and near in love 
Till you did make him misinterpret me, 
Have stoop'd my neck under your injuries, 
And sigh'd my English breath in foreign clouds, 20 
Eating the bitter bread of banishment; 
Whilst you have fed upon my signories, 

3 part: quit 4 urging: insisting upon 10 clean: entirely 

II in manner: as it were 22 signories: estates 



King Richard the Second, III. i 51 

Dispark'd my parks, and felled my forest woods, 
From mine own windows torn my household coat, 24 
Raz'd out my impress, leaving me no sign, 
Save men's opinions and my living blood, 
To show the world I am a gentleman. 
This and much more, much more than twice all this, 28 
Condemns you to the death. See them deliver'd over 
To execution and the hand of death. 

Bushy. More welcome is the stroke of death to me 
Than Bolingbroke to England. Lords, farewell. 32 

Green. My comfort is, that heaven will take our 
souls 
And plague injustice with the pains of hell. 

Boling. My Lord Northumberland, see them dis- 
patch'd. 

[Exeunt Northumberland and others, 
with Bushy and Green.~\ 
Uncle, you say the queen is at your house; 36 

For God's sake, fairly let her be entreated: 
Tell her I send to her my kind commends; 
Take special care my greetings be deliver'd. 

York. A gentleman of mine I have dispatch'd 40 
With letters of your love to her at large. 

Boling. Thanks, gentle uncle. Come, lords, away, 
To fight with Glendower and his complices: 
Awhile to work, and after holiday. Exeunt. 

23 Dispark'd: unfenced 24 coat: coat-of-arms 

25 impress; cf.n. 37 entreated: treated 

38 commends: greetings 41 at large: fully set forth 
43 Glendower; cf. n. 



52 The Life and Death of 

Scene Two 

[The Coast of Wales. A Castle in view] 

Drums, Flourish, and Colours. 

Enter Richard, Aumerle, [the Bishop of] Carlisle, 

and Soldiers. 

K. Rich. Barkloughly Castle call they this at hand ? 

Aum. Yea, my lord. How brooks your Grace the 
air, 
After your late tossing on the breaking seas? 

K.Rich. Needs must I like it well: I weep for 
joy 4 

To stand upon my kingdom once again. 
Dear earth, I do salute thee with my hand, 
Though rebels wound thee with their horses' hoofs: 
As a long-parted mother with her child 8 

Plays fondly with her tears and smiles in meeting, 
So, weeping, smiling, greet I thee, my earth, 
And do thee favour with my royal hands. 
Feed not thy sovereign's foe, my gentle earth, 12 

Nor with thy sweets comfort his ravenous sense; 
But let thy spiders, that suck up thy venom, 
And heavy-gaited toads lie in their way, 
Doing annoyance to the treacherous feet 16 

Which with usurping steps do trample thee. 
Yield stinging nettles to mine enemies ; 
And when they from thy bosom pluck a flower, 
Guard it, I pray thee, with a lurking adder 20 

Whose double tongue may with a mortal touch 
Throw death upon thy sovereign's enemies. 
Mock not my senseless conjuration, lords: 
This earth shall have a feeling and these stones 24 

1 Barkloughly; cf. n. 2 brooks: endures 

23 conjuration: adjuration, prayer 



King Richard the Second, III. ii 53 

Prove armed soldiers, ere her native king 
Shall falter under foul rebellion's arms. 

Car. Fear not, my lord: that power that made you 
king 
Hath power to keep you king in spite of all. 28 

The means that heaven yields must be embrac'd, 
And not neglected; else, if heaven would, 
And we will not, heaven's offer we refuse, 
The proffer'd means of succour and redress. 32 

Aum. He means, my lord, that we are too remiss; 
Whilst Bolingbroke, through our security, 
Grows strong and great in substance and in friends. 

K. Rich. Discomfortable cousin ! know'st thou 
not 36 

That when the searching eye of heaven is hid 
Behind the globe, and lights the lower world, 
Then thieves and robbers range abroad unseen, 
In murders and in outrage bloody here; 40 

But when, from under this terrestrial ball ' 
He fires the proud tops of the eastern pines 
And darts his light through every guilty hole, 
Then murders, treasons, and detested sins, 44 

The cloak of night being pluck'd from off their backs, 
Stand bare and naked, trembling at themselves? 
So when this thief, this traitor, Bolingbroke, 
Who all this while hath revell'd in the night 48 

Whilst we were wandering with the antipodes, 
Shall see us rising in our throne, the east, 
His treasons will sit blushing in his face, 
Not able to endure the sight of day, 52 

But self-affrighted tremble at his sin. 
Not all the water in the rough rude sea 

29-32 Cf.n. 34 security: false confidence 

36 Discomfortable: discouraging 

49 antipodes: the inhabitants of the other hemisphere 



64 The Life and Death of 

Can wash the balm off from an anointed king; 
The breath of worldly men cannot depose 56 

The deputy elected by the Lord. 
For every man that Bolingbroke hath press'd 
To lift shrewd steel against our golden crown, 
God for his Richard hath in heavenly pay 60 

A glorious angel: then, if angels fight, 
Weak men must fall, for heaven still guards the 
right. 

Enter Salisbury. 

Welcome, my lord: how far off lies your power? 

Sal. Nor near nor farther off, my gracious lord, 64 
Than this weak arm: discomfort guides my tongue 
And bids me speak of nothing but despair. 
One day too late, I fear me, noble lord, 
Hath clouded all thy happy days on earth. 68 

O ! call back yesterday, bid time return, 
And thou shalt have twelve thousand fighting men : 
To-day, to-day, unhappy day too late, 
O'erthrows thy joys, friends, fortune, and thy 
state ; 72 

For all the Welshmen, hearing thou wert dead, 
Are gone to Bolingbroke, dispers'd, and fled. 

Aum. Comfort, my liege! why looks your Grace so 
pale? 

K. Rich. But now, the blood of twenty thousand 
men 76 

Did triumph in my face, and they are fled; 
And till so much blood thither come again 

Have I not reason to look pale and dead? 
All souls that will be safe, fly from my side; 80 

55 balm: holy oil used in consecrating a king 

58 press'd: recruited, levied 59 shrewd: accursed 

64 near: nearer 65 discomfort: discouragement 



King Richard the Second, III. ii 65 

For time hath set a blot upon my pride. 

Aum. Comfort, my liege ! remember who you are. 

K. Rich. I had forgot myself. Am I not king? 
Awake, thou sluggard majesty! thou sleepest. 84 
Is not the king's name twenty thousand names? 
Arm, arm, my name ! a puny subj ect strikes 
At thy great glory. Look not to the ground, 
Ye favourites of a king: are we not high? 88 

High be our thoughts : I know my uncle York 
Hath power enough to serve our turn. But who 
comes here? 

Enter [Sir Stephen] Scroop. 

Scroop. More health and happiness betide my 
liege 
Than can my care-tun' d tongue deliver him! 92 

K. Rich. Mine ear is open and my heart prepar'd: 
The worst is worldly loss thou canst unfold. 
Say, is my kingdom lost? why, 'twas my care; 
And what loss is it to be rid of care? 96 

Strives Bolingbroke to be as great as we? 
Greater he shall not be: if he serve God 
We'll serve him too, and be his fellow so: 
Revolt our subjects? that we cannot mend; loo 

They break their faith to God as well as us: 
Cry woe, destruction, ruin, loss, decay ; 
The worst is death, and death will have his day. 

Scroop. Glad am I that your highness is so 
arm'd - 104 

To bear the tidings of calamity. 
Like an unseasonable stormy day 
Which makes the silver rivers drown their shores, 
As if the world were all dissolv'd to tears, 108 

92 deliver: utter to 99 fellow: equal 



66 The Life and Death of 

So high above his limits swells the rage 
Of Bolingbroke, covering your fearful land 
With hard bright steel and hearts harder than steel. 
White-beards have arm'd their thin and hairless 
scalps 112 

Against thy majesty; and boys, with women's voices, 
Strive to speak big, and clap their female joints 
In stiff unwieldy arms against thy crown; 
Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows 116 

Of double-fatal yew against thy state; 
Yea, distaff-women manage rusty bills 
Against thy seat: both young and old rebel, 
And all goes worse than I have power to tell. 120 

K. Rich. Too well, too well thou tell'st a tale so ill. 
Where is the Earl of Wiltshire? where is Bagot? 
What is become of Bushy? where is Green? 
That they have let the dangerous enemy 124 

Measure our confines with such peaceful steps? 
If we prevail, their heads shall pay for it. 
I warrant they have made peace with Bolingbroke. 

Scroop. Peace have they made with him, indeed, 
my lord. 128 

K. Rich. O villains, vipers, damn'd without redemp- 
tion! 
Dogs, easily won to fawn on any man! 
Snakes, in my heart-blood warm'd, that sting my 

heart ! 
Three Judases, each one thrice worse than Judas ! 132 
Would they make peace? terrible hell make war 
Upon their spotted souls for this offence ! 

Scroop. Sweet love, I see, changing his property, 

114 clap: set briskly female: womanish 115 arms: armor 

116 beadsmen: pensioners 117 double-fatal; cf. n. 

118 manage: handle bills; cf. n. 119 seat: throne 

125 confines: territories 135 property: essential nature 



King Richard the Second, III. ii 57 

Turns to the sourest and most deadly hate. 136 

Again uncurse their souls; their peace is made 
With heads and not with hands: those whom you 

curse 
Have felt the worst of death's destroying wound 
And lie full low, grav'd in the hollow ground. 140 
Aum. Is Bushy, Green, and the Earl of Wiltshire 

dead ? 
Scroop. Yea, all of them at Bristol lost their heads. 
Aum. Where is the duke my father with his 

power ? 
K. Rich. No matter where. Of comfort no man 

speak : 144 

Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs; 
Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes 
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth ; 
Let's choose executors and talk of wills: 148 

And yet not so — for what can we bequeath 
Save our deposed bodies to the ground? 
Our lands, our lives, and all are Bolingbroke's, 
And nothing can we call our own but death, 152 

And that small model of the barren earth 
Which serves as paste and cover to our bones. 
For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground 
And tell sad stories of the death of kings: 156 

How some have been depos'd, some slain in war, 
Some haunted by the ghosts they have depos'd, 
Some poison'd by their wives, some sleeping kill'd; 
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown 160 

That rounds the mortal temples of a king 
Keeps Death his court, and there the antic sits, 
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp; 

140 grav'd: entombed 153 model: mold, close envelop 

161 rounds: encircles 162 antic: buffoon 

163 Scoffing: mocking 



58 The Life and Death of 

Allowing him a breath, a little scene, 164 

To monarchize, be fear'd, and kill with looks, 

Infusing him with self and vain conceit 

As if this flesh which walls about our life 

Were brass impregnable; and humour'd thus 168 

Comes at the last, and with a little pin 

Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king! 

Cover your heads, and mock not flesh and blood 

With solemn reverence: throw away respect, 172 

Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty, 

For you have but mistook me all this while: 

I live with bread like you, feel want, 

Taste grief, need friends: subjected thus, 176 

How can you say to me I am a king? 

Car. My lord, wise men ne'er sit and wail their 
woes, 
But presently prevent the ways to wail. 
To fear the foe, since fear oppresseth strength, 180 
Gives in your weakness strength unto your foe, 
And so your follies fight against yourself. 
Fear and be slain; no worse can come to fight: 
And fight and die is death destroying death; 184 

Where fearing dying pays death servile breath. 

A um. My father hath a power; inquire of him 
And learn to make a body of a limb. 

K. Rich. Thou chid'st me well. Proud Boling- 
broke, I come 188 

To change blows with thee for our day of doom. 
This ague-fit of fear is over-blown; 
An easy task it is, to win our own. — 
Say, Scroop, where lies our uncle with his power? 192 

166 self and vain conceit; cf. n. 

168, 169 and . . . Comes: and to him who has been thus humored, 

death comes 176 subjected: brought low; cf. n. 

179 prevent: escape 183 to fight: by fighting 

189 change: exchange 190 over-blown : past 



King Richard the Second, III. ii 59 

Speak sweetly, man, although thy looks be sour. 

Scroop. Men judge by the complexion of the sky 

The state and inclination of the day; 
So may you by my dull and heavy eye, 196 

My tongue hath but a heavier tale to say. 
I play the torturer, by small and small 
To lengthen out the worst that must be spoken. 
Your uncle York is join'd with Bolingbroke, 200 
And all your northern castles yielded up, 
And all your southern gentlemen in arms 
Upon his party. 

K. Rich. Thou hast said enough. 

[To Aumerle.] Beshrew thee, cousin, which didst lead 
me forth 204 

Of that sweet way I was in to despair! 
What say you now? What comfort have we now? 
By heaven, I'll hate him everlastingly 
That bids me be of comfort any more. 208 

Go to Flint Castle: there I'll pine away; 
A king, woe's slave, shall kingly woe obey. 
That power I have, discharge ; and let them go 
To ear the land that hath some hope to grow, 212 
For I have none: let no man speak again 
To alter this, for counsel is but vain. 

A um. My liege, one word. 

K. Rich. He does me double wrong, 

That wounds me with the flatteries of his tongue. 216 
Discharge my followers: let them hence away, 
From Richard's night to Bolingbroke's fair day. 

Exeunt. 

194 complexion : visible aspect 195 inclination: character 

203 party: side 204 forth: out 

209 Flint; cf. n. 212 ear: plow 



60 The Life and Death of 

Scene Three 

[Wales. Before Flint Castle] 

Enter with Drum and Colours, Bolingbroke, York, 
Northumberland, Attendants [and Forces], 

Boling. So that by this intelligence we learn 
The Welshmen are dispers'd and Salisbury 
Is gone to meet the king, who lately landed 
With some few private friends upon this coast. 4 

North. The news is very fair and good, my lord: 
Richard not far from hence hath hid his head. 

York. It would beseem the Lord Northumberland 
To say, 'King Richard': alack the heavy day 8 

When such a sacred king should hide his head! 

North. Your Grace mistakes ; only to be brief 
Left I his title out. 

York. The time hath been, 

Would you have been so brief with him, he would 12 
Have been so brief with you, to shorten you, 
For taking so the head, your whole head's length. 

Boling. Mistake not, uncle, further than you 
should. 

York. Take not, good cousin, further than you 
should, 16 

Lest you mistake the heavens are o'er our heads. 

Boling. I know it, uncle; and oppose not myself 
Against their will. But who comes here? 

Enter [Henry] Percy. 

Welcome, Harry: what, will not this castle yield? 20 
H. Percy. The castle royally is mann'd, my lord, 
Against thy entrance. 

4 private: intimate 14 taking . . . head: being so forward 

15, 17 Mistake; cf. n. 



King Richard the Second, III. Hi 61 

Boling. Royally! 
Why, it contains no king? 

H. Percy. Yes, my good lord, 24 

It doth contain a king: King Richard lies 
Within the limits of yon lime and stone; 
And with him are the Lord Aumerle, Lord Salisbury, 
Sir Stephen Scroop; besides a clergyman 28 

Of holy reverence ; who, I cannot learn. 

North. O ! belike it is the Bishop of Carlisle. 

Boling. [To North.] Noble lord, 
Go to the rude ribs of that ancient castle, 32 

Through brazen trumpet send the breath of parley 
Into his ruin'd ears, and thus deliver: 
Henry Bolingbroke 

On both his knees doth kiss King Richard's hand, 36 
And sends allegiance and true faith of heart 
To his most royal person; hither come 
Even at his feet to lay my arms and power, 
Provided that my banishment repeal'd, 40 

And lands restor'd again be freely granted. 
If not, I'll use the advantage of my power, 
And lay the summer's dust with showers of blood 
Rain'd from the wounds of slaughter'd English- 
men 44 
The which, how far off from the mind of Bolingbroke 
It is, such crimson tempest should bedrench 
The fresh green lap of fair King Richard's land, 
My stooping duty tenderly shall show. 48 
Go, signify as much, while here we march 
Upon the grassy carpet of this plain. 
Let's march without the noise of threat' ning drum, 
That from this castle's totter'd battlements 52 
Our fair appointments may be well perus'd. 

40 banishment repeal'd; cf. n. 52 totter'd: ragged 

53 appointments: equipment perus'd: surveyed 



62 The Life and Death of 

Methinks King Richard and myself should meet 

With no less terror than the elements 

Of fire and water, when their thundering shock 56 

At meeting tears the cloudy cheeks of heaven. 

Be he the fire, I'll be the yielding water: 

The rage be his, whilst on the earth I rain 

My waters ; on the earth, and not on him. 60 

March on, and mark King Richard how he looks. 

Parley sounded without, and answer within; then a 
Flourish. Enter on the walls, Richard, Carlisle, 
Aumerle, Scroop, Salisbury. 

Boling. See, see, King Richard doth himself 
appear, 
As doth the blushing discontented sun 
From out the fiery portal of the east, 64 

When he perceives the envious clouds are bent 
To dim his glory and to stain the track 
Of his bright passage to the Occident. 

York. Yet looks he like a king: behold, his eye, 68 
As bright as is the eagle's, lightens forth 
Controlling majesty: alack, alack, for woe, 
That any harm should stain so fair a show ! 

K.Rich. [To Northumberland.'} We are amaz'd; 
and thus long have we stood 72 

To watch the fearful bending of thy knee, 
Because we thought ourself thy lawful king: 
And if we be, how dare thy joints forget 
To pay their awful duty to our presence? 76 

If we be not, show us the hand of God 
That hath dismiss'd us from our stewardship ; 
For well we know, no hand of blood and bone 
Can gripe the sacred handle of our sceptre, 80 

69 lightens: flashes 73 fearful: apprehensive 

76 awful: reverential 



King Richard the Second, III. Hi 63 

Unless he do profane, steal, or usurp. 
And though you think that all, as you have done, 
Have torn their souls by turning them from us, 
And we are barren and bereft of friends; 84 

Yet know, my master, God omnipotent, 
Is mustering in his clouds on our behalf 
Armies of pestilence; and they shall strike 
Your children yet unborn and unbegot, 88 

That lift your vassal hands against my head 
And threat the glory of my precious crown. 
Tell Bolingbroke, — -for yon methinks he stands, — 
That every stride he makes upon my land 92 

Is dangerous treason: he is come to open 
The purple testament of bleeding war; 
But ere the crown he looks for live in peace, 
Ten thousand bloody crowns of mothers' sons 96 

Shall ill become the flower of England's face, 
Change the complexion of her maid-pale peace 
To scarlet indignation, and bedew 
Her pastures' grass with faithful English blood. 100 
North. The king of heaven forbid our lord the king 
Should so with civil and uncivil arms 
Be rush'd upon! Thy thrice-noble cousin, 
Harry Bolingbroke, doth humbly kiss thy hand; 104 
And by the honourable tomb he swears, 
That stands upon your royal grandsire's bones, 
And by the royalties of both your bloods, 
Currents that spring from one most gracious head, 108 
And by the buried hand of warlike Gaunt, 
And by the worth and honour of himself, 
Comprising all that may be sworn or said, 
His coming hither hath no further scope 112 

83 them: themselves 89 That: refers to 'you' implied 

94 testament: will, figuratively 98 maid-pale: pale as a girl 

102 uncivil: discourteous 



64 The Life and Death of 

Than for his lineal royalties and to beg 
Enfranchisement immediate on his knees: 
Which on thy royal party granted once, 
His glittering arms he will commend to rust, 116 
His barbed steeds to stables, and his heart 
To faithful service of your majesty. 
This swears he, as he is a prince, is just; 
And, as I am a gentleman, I credit him. 120 

K. Rich. Northumberland, say, thus the king re- 
turns : 
His noble cousin is right welcome hither; 
And all the number of his fair demands 
Shall be accomplish'd without contradiction: 124 

With all the gracious utterance thou hast 
Speak to his gentle hearing kind commends. 

[Northumberland retires to BolingbroheJ] 
[To Aumerle.] We do debase ourselves, cousin, do we 

not, 
To look so poorly and to speak so fair? 128 

Shall we call back Northumberland and send 
Defiance to the traitor, and so die? 

Aum. No, good my lord; let's fight with gentle 
words, 
Till time lend friends and friends their helpful 
swords. 132 

K. Rich. O God ! O God ! that e'er this tongue of 
mine, 
That laid the sentence of dread banishment 
On yon proud man, should take it off again 
With words of sooth. O! that I were as great 136 
As is my grief, or lesser than my name, 
Or that I could forget what I have been, 

113 lineal royalties: prerogatives due to descent 

114 Enfranchisement: restoration to free man's rights 

117 barbed: armored 127 debase: degrade 

136 sooth: cajolery 



King Richard the Second, III. Hi 65 

Or not remember what I must be now. 

SwelTst thou, proud heart? I'll give thee scope to 

beat, 140 

Since foes have scope to beat both thee and me. 
Aum. Northumberland comes back from Boling- 

broke. 
K. Rich. What must the king do now ? Must he 

submit ? 
The king shall do it: must he be depos'd? 144 

The king shall be contented: must he lose 
The name of king? o' God's name, let it go: 
I'll give my jewels for a set of beads, 
My gorgeous palace for a hermitage, 148 

My gay apparel for an almsman's gown, 
My figur'd goblets for a dish of wood, 
My sceptre for a palmer's walking-staff, 
My subjects for a pair of carved saints, 152 

And my large kingdom for a little grave, 
A little little grave, an obscure grave; 
Or I'll be buried in the king's highway, 
Some way of common trade, where subjects' feet 156 
May hourly trample on their sovereign's head; 
For on my heart they tread now whilst I live ; 
And buried once, why not upon my head? 
Aumerle, thou weep'st, my tender-hearted cousin ! 160 
We'll make foul weather with despised tears ; 
Our sighs and they shall lodge the summer corn, 
And make a dearth in this revolting land. 
Or shall we play the wantons with our woes, 164 
And make some pretty match with shedding tears? 
As thus; to drop them still upon one place, 
Till they have fretted us a pair of graves 

140 give scope: give free play 147-152 Cf.n. 

162 lodge: bend over 164 play . . . wantons: trifle 

167 fretted: worn 



66 The Life and Death of 

Within the earth; and, there inlaid: 'There lies 168 
Two kinsmen digg'd their graves with weeping eyes.' 
Would not this ill do well ? Well, well, I see 
I talk but idly and you laugh at me. 
Most mighty prince, my Lord Northumberland, 172 
What says King Bolingbroke? will his majesty 
Give Richard leave to live till Richard die? 
You make a leg, and Bolingbroke says ay. 

North. My lord, in the base court he doth 

attend 176 

To speak with you; may 't please you to come down? 

K. Rich. Down, down, I come ; like glistering 

Phaethon, 
Wanting the manage of unruly jades. 
In the base court? Base court, where kings grow 

base, 180 

To come at traitors' calls and do them grace. 
In the base court? Come down? Down, court! 

down, king! 
For night-owls shriek where mounting larks should 

sing. [Exeunt from above.] 

Boling. What says his majesty? 
North. Sorrow and grief of heart 184 

Makes him speak fondly, like a frantic man: 
Yet he is come. 

[Enter King Richard, and his Attendants.] 
Boling. Stand all apart, 
And show fair duty to his majesty. 188 

He kneels down. 
My gracious lord, — 

168 inlaid: inscribed 169 digg'd : who digged 

175 make a leg: make an obeisance 

176 base court: outer court of castle 

178 glistering: shining Phaethon; cf. n. 

179 Wanting: lacking manage: skill to handle jades: horses 
185 fondly: foolishly 



King Richard the Second, III. Hi 67 

K. Rich. Fair cousin, you debase your princely 
knee 
To make the base earth proud with kissing it: 
Me rather had my heart might feel your love 192 
Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy. 
Up, cousin, up; your heart is up, I know, 
Thus high at least, although your knee be low. 

fioling. My gracious lord, I come but for mine 
own. 196 

K. Rich. Your own is yours, and I am yours, and 
all. 

Boling. So far be mine, my most redoubted lord, 
As my true service shall deserve your love. 

K. Rich. Well you deserve : they well deserve to 
have 200 

That know the strong'st and surest way to get. 
Uncle, give me your hands: nay, dry your eyes; 
Tears show their love, but want their remedies. 
Cousin, I am too young to be your father, 204 

Though you are old enough to be my heir. 
What you will have I'll give, and willing too; 
For do we must what force will have us do. 
Set on towards London. Cousin, it is so ? 208 

Boling. Yea, my good lord. 

K. Rich. Then I must not say no. 

Flourish. Exeunt. 

192 Me rather had: I'd rather 

203 want . . . remedies : lack what will cure their cause 

205 heir: i.e., successor 



68 The Life and Death of 

Scene Four 

[Langley. The Duke of York's Garden] 
Enter the Queen and two Ladies. 

Queen. What sport shall we devise here in this 
garden, 
To drive away the heavy thought of care? 

First Lady. Madam, well play at bowls. 

Queen. 'Twill make me think the world is full of 
rubs, 4 

And that my fortune runs against the bias. 

First Lady. Madam, we'll dance. 

Queen. My legs can keep no measure in delight 
When my poor heart no measure keeps in grief: 8 
Therefore, no dancing, girl; some other sport. 

First Lady. Madam, we'll tell tales. 

Queen. Of sorrow or of joy? 

First Lady. Of either, madam. 

Queen. Of neither, girl: 12 

For if of joy, being altogether wanting, 
It doth remember me the more of sorrow; 
Or if of grief, being altogether had, 
It adds more sorrow to my want of joy: 16 

For what I have I need not to repeat, 
And what I want it boots not to complain. 

First Lady. Madam, I'll sing. 

Queen. 'Tis well that thou hast cause; 

But thou shouldst please me better wouldst thou 

weep. 20 

First Lady. I could weep, madam, would it do 
you good. 

Queen. And I could sing would weeping do me 
good, 
3-5 Cf. n. 7, 8 Cf. n. 22 Cf. n. 



King Richard the Second, III. iv 69 

And never borrow any tear of thee. 

Enter a Gardener and two Servants. 

But stay, here come the gardeners: 24 

Let's step into the shadow of these trees. 
My wretchedness unto a row of pins, 
They'll talk of state; for every one doth so 
Against a change: woe is forerun with woe. 28 

[Queen and Ladies retire.] 

Gard. Go, bind thou up yon dangling apricocks, 
Which, like unruly children, make their sire 
Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight: 
Give some supportance to the bending twigs. 32 

Go thou, and like an executioner, 
Cut off the heads of too fast growing sprays, 
That look too lofty in our commonwealth: 
All must be even in our government. 36 

You thus employ'd, I will go root away 
The noisome weeds, that without profit suck 
The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers. 

First Serv. Why should we in the compass of a 
pale 40 

Keep law and form and due proportion, 
Showing, as in a model, our firm estate, 
When our sea-walled garden, the whole land, 
Is full of weeds, her fairest flowers chok'd up, 44 
Her fruit-trees all unprun'd, her hedges ruin'd, 
Her knots disorder'd, and her wholesome herbs 
Swarming with caterpillars? 

Gard. Hold thy peace: 

26 unto: staked against 

28 Against: in expectation of forerun: announced as by a harbinger 

31 oppression: burden 

36 even: uniform government: domain under our control 

40 pale: fence 

42 model: plan on a small scale estate: condition 

46 knots: parterres, flower-beds 



70 The Life and Death of 

He that hath suffer'd this disorder'd spring 48 

Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf; 

The weeds that his broad-spreading leaves did shelter, 

That seem'd in eating him to hold him up. 

Are pluck'd up root and all by Bolingbroke; 52 

I mean the Earl of Wiltshire, Bushy, Green. 

First Serv. What ! are they dead ? 

Gard. They are; and Bolingbroke 

Hath seiz'd the wasteful king. O ! what pity is it 
That he hath not so trimm'd and dress'd his land 56 
As we this garden. We at time of year 
Do wound the bark, the skin of our fruit-trees, 
Lest, being over-proud with sap and blood, 
With too much riches it confound itself: 60 

Had he done so to great and growing men, 
They might have liv'd to bear and he to taste 
Their fruits of duty: superfluous branches 
We lop away that bearing boughs may live: 64 

Had he done so, himself had borne the crown, 
Which waste of idle hours hath quite thrown down. 

First Serv. What ! think you then the king shall be 
depos'd? 

Gard. Depress'd he is already, and depos'd 68 

'Tis doubt he will be: letters came last night 
To a dear friend of the good Duke of York's, 
That tell black tidings. 

Queen. O! I am press'd to death through want of 
speaking. 72 

[Coming forward.] 
Thou, old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden, 
How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleas- 
ing news? 

56 dress'd: cultivated 57 time of year: proper seasons 

60 confound: destroy 69 'Tis doubt: it is apprehended 

72 press'd to death: suffocated; cf. n. 



King Richard the Second, III. iv 71 

What Eve, what serpent, hath suggested thee 
To make a second fall of cursed man? 76 

Why dost thou say King Richard is depos'd? 
Dar'st thou, thou little better thing than earth, 
Divine his downfall? Say, where, when, and how 
Cam'st thou by these ill tidings? speak, thou 

wretch. * 80 

Gard. Pardon me, madam: little joy have I 
To breathe these news, yet what I say is true. 
King Richard, he is in the mighty hold 
Of Bolingbroke; their fortunes both are weigh'd: 84 
In your lord's scale is nothing but himself, 
And some few vanities that make him light; 
But in the balance of great Bolingbroke, 
Besides himself, are all the English peers, 88 

And with that odds he weighs King Richard down. 
Post you to London and you'll find it so; 
I speak no more than every one doth know. 

Queen. Nimble mischance, that art so light of 

foot, 92 

Doth not thy embassage belong to me, 
And am I last that knows it? O ! thou think'st 
To serve me last, that I may longest keep 
Thy sorrow in my breast. Come, ladies, go, 96 

To meet at London London's king in woe. 
What ! was I born to this, that my sad look 
Should grace the triumph of great Bolingbroke? 
Gardener, for telling me these news of woe, 100 

Pray God the plants thou graft' st may never grow. 

Exeunt \Queen and Ladies]. 
Gard. Poor queen! so that thy state might be no 

worse, 
I would my skill were subject to thy curse. 

75 suggested: tempted 79 Divine: prophesy 

83 hold: grasp 93 embassage: errand 



72 The Life and Death of 

Here did she fall a tear; here, in this place, 104 

I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace; 
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen, 
In the remembrance of a weeping queen. 

Exeunt. 



ACT FOURTH 

Scene One 

[ Westminster Hall] 

Enter as to the Parliament [ — the Lords spiritual on 
the right side of the throne, the Lords temporal 
on the left, the Commons below — ] Bolingbroke, 
Aumerle, Northumberland, Percy, Fitzwater, 
Surrey, [Bishop o/] Carlisle, Abbot of West- 
minster [and another Lord]. Herald, Officers, 
and Bagot. 

Boling. Call forth Bagot. 
Now, Bagot, freely speak thy mind; 
What thou dost know of noble Gloucester's death, 
Who wrought it with the king, and who perform'd 4 
The bloody office of his timeless end. 

Bagot. Then set before my face the Lord Aumerle. 
Boling. Cousin, stand forth, and look upon that 

man. 
Bagot. My lord Aumerle, I know your daring 
tongue 8 

Scorns to unsay what once it hath deliver'd. 
In that dead time when Gloucester's death was 
plotted, 

104 fall: let drop 105 rue: a garden plant, 'herb of grace' 

106 ruth: pity 1-90 Cf. n. 

4 wrought: cf. n. 5 office: duty timeless: untimely 



King Richard the Second, IV. i 73 

I heard you say, 'Is not my arm of length, 

That reacheth from the restful English court 12 

As far as Calais, to my uncle's head?' 

Amongst much other talk, that very time, 

I heard you say that you had rather refuse 

The offer of a hundred thousand crowns 16 

Than Bolingbroke's return to England; 

Adding withal, how blest this land would be 

In this your cousin's death. 

Aum. Princes and noble lords, 

What answer shall I make to this base man? 20 

Shall I so much dishonour my fair stars, 
On equal terms to give him chastisement ? 
Either I must, or have mine honour soil'd 
With the attainder of his slanderous lips. 24 

There is my gage, the manual seal of death, 
That marks thee out for hell: I say thou liest, 
And will maintain what thou hast said is false 
In thy heart-blood, though being all too base 28 
To stain the temper of my knightly sword. 

Boling. Bagot, forbear; thou shalt not take it up. 

Aum. Excepting one, I would he were the best 
In all this presence that hath mov'd me so. 32 

Fitss. If that thy valour stand on sympathy, 
There is my gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine: 
By that fair sun which shows me where thou 
stand' st, 

I heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak'st it, 36 
That thou wert cause of noble Gloucester's death. 
If thou deny'st it twenty times, thou liest; 

And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart, 

Where it was forged, with my rapier's point. 40 

II Is . # . . length; cf.n. 21 stars; cf. n. 

24 attainder: dishonoring accusation 

25 manual seal: seal worn on hand in a ring 

33 sympathy : equality of rank 39 lurn: fling back 



74 The Life and Death of 

Aum. Thou dar'st not, coward, live to see that day. 

Fits. Now, by my soul, I would it were this hour. 

Aum. Fitzwater, thou art damn'd to hell for this. 

H. Percy. Aumerle, thou liest ; his honour is as 
true 44 

In this appeal as thou art all unjust; 
And that thou art so, there I throw my gage, 
To prove it on thee to the extremest point 
Of mortal breathing: seize it if thou dar'st. 48 

Aum. And if I do not may my hands rot off 
And never brandish more revengeful steel 
Over the glittering helmet of my foe! 

Another Lord. I task the earth to the like, for- 
sworn Aumerle; 52 
And spur thee on with full as many lies 
As may be holla' d in thy treacherous ear 
From sun to sun: there is my honour's pawn; 
Engage it to the trial if thou dar'st. 56 

Aum. Who sets me else? by heaven, I'll throw at 
all: 
I have a thousand spirits in one breast, 
To answer twenty thousand such as you. 

Surrey. My Lord Fitzwater, I do remember well 60 
The very time Aumerle and you did talk. 

Fitz. 'Tis very true: you were in presence then; 
And you can witness with me this is true. 

Surrey. As false, by heaven, as heaven itself is 
true. 64 

Fitz. Surrey, thou liest. 

Surrey. Dishonourable boy! 

That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword 
That it shall render vengeance and revenge, 

47 extremest: last 

521... like : / challenge the world to the same trial 

57 sets, throw; cf. n. 62 in presence: present 



King Richard the Second, IV. i 75 

Till thou the lie-giver and that lie do lie 68 

In earth as quiet as thy father's skull. 
In proof whereof, there is my honour's pawn: 
Engage it to the trial if thou dar'st. 

Fitz. How fondly dost thou spur a forward 
horse ! 72 

If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live, 
I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness, 
And spit upon him, whilst I say he lies, 
And lies, and lies: there is my bond of faith 76 

To tie thee to my strong correction. 
As I intend to thrive in this new world, 
Aumerle is guilty of my true appeal: 
Besides, I heard the banish'd Norfolk say 80 

That thou, Aumerle, didst send two of thy men 
To execute the noble duke at Calais. 

Aum. Some honest Christian trust me with a gage. 
That Norfolk lies, here do I throw down this, 84 
If he may be repeal'd to try his honour. 

Boling. These differences shall all rest under gage 
Till Norfolk be repeal'd: repeal'd he shall be, 
And though mine enemy, restor'd again 88 

To all his lands and signories ; when he's return'd, 
Against Aumerle we will enforce his trial. 

Car. That honourable day shall ne'er be seen. 
Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought 92 

For Jesu Christ in glorious Christian field, 
Streaming the ensign of the Christian cross 
Against black pagans, Turks, and Saracens; 
And toil'd with works of war, retir'd himself 96 
To Italy; and there at Venice gave 
His body to that pleasant country's earth, 

72 forward: eager 77 tie: obligate 85 try: prove 

86 rest under gage: await decision 90 trial: i.e., by combat 

94 Streaming: causative, 'making to stream out' 

96 toil'd: wearied 



76 The Life and Death of 

And his pure soul unto his captain Christ, 

Under whose colours he had fought so long. 100 

Boling. Why, bishop, is Norfolk dead? 

Car. As surely as I live, my lord. 

Boling. Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the 
bosom 
Of good old Abraham! Lords appellants, 104 

Your differences shall all rest under gage 
Till we assign you to your days of trial. 

Enter York [attended], 

York. Great Duke of Lancaster, I come to thee 
From plume-pluck'd Richard; who with willing 
soul 108 

Adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields 
To the possession of thy royal hand. 
Ascend his throne, descending now from him; 
And long live Henry, of that name the fourth ! 112 

Boling. In God's name, I'll ascend the regal throne. 

Car. Marry, God forbid! 
Worst in this royal presence may I speak, 
Yet best beseeming me to speak the truth. 116 

Would God that any in this noble presence 
Were enough noble to be upright judge 
Of noble Richard! then, true noblesse would 
Learn him forbearance from so foul a wrong. 120 
What subject can give sentence on his king? 
And who sits here that is not Richard's subject? 
Thieves are not judg'd but they are by to hear, 
Although apparent guilt be seen in them; 124 

And shall the figure of God's majesty, 
His captain, steward, deputy elect, 

115 Worst; cf. n. 117-119 noble; cf. n. 

119 noblesse: no bility 120 Learn: teach 123 but: unless 

124 apparent: obvious 125 figure: symbol 



King Richard the Second, IV. i 77 

Anointed, crowned, planted many years, 

Be judg'd by subject and inferior breath, 128 

And he himself not present? O! forfend it, God, 

That in a Christian climate souls refin'd 

Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed. 

I speak to subjects, and a subject speaks, 132 

Stirr'd up by God thus boldly for his king. 

My Lord of Hereford here, whom you call king, 

Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford's king; 

And if you crown him, let me prophesy, 136 

The blood of English shall manure the ground 

And future ages groan for this foul act; 

Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels, 

And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars 146 

Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound ; 

Disorder, horror, fear and mutiny 

Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd 

The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls. 144 

O ! if you raise this house against this house, 

It will the woefullest division prove 

That ever fell upon this cursed earth. 

Prevent it, resist it, let it not be so, 148 

Lest child, child's children, cry against you 'woe !' 

North. Well have you argu'd, sir; and, for your 
pains, 
Of capital treason we arrest you here. 
My Lord of Westminster, be it your charge 152 

To keep him safely till his day of trial. 
May it please you, lords, to grant the commons' suit? 

Boling. Fetch hither Richard, that in common view 
He may surrender; so we shall proceed 156 

Without suspicion. 

127 planted: established 129 forfend: avert 

141 kind: family confound : mingle indistinguishably 

149 child, etc.; cf.n. 151 Of : on a charge of 154 suit; cf. n. 



78 The Life and Death of 

York. I will be his conduct. Exit. 

Boling. Lords, you that here are under our arrest, 
Procure your sureties for your days of answer. 
[To Carlisle.'] Little are we beholding to your 
love, 160 

And little look'd for at your helping hands. 

Enter Richard and York [and Officers bearing the 

Crown] . 

K. Rich. Alack ! why am I sent for to a king 
Before I have shook off the regal thoughts 
Wherewith I reign'd ? I hardly yet have learn' d 164 
To insinuate, flatter, bow, and bend my knee: 
Give sorrow leave awhile to tutor me 
To this submission. Yet I well remember 
The favours of these men: were they not mine? 168 
Did they not sometime cry, 'All hail!' to me? 
So Judas did to Christ: but He, in twelve, 
Found truth in all but one; I, in twelve thousand, 

none. 
God save the king! Will no man say, amen? 172 
Am I both priest and clerk? well then, amen. 
God save the king! although I be not he; 
And yet, amen, if heaven do think him me. 
To do what service am I sent for hither? 176 

York. To do that office of thine own good will 
Which tired majesty did make thee offer, 
The resignation of thy state and crown 
To Henry Bolingbroke. 180 

K. Rich. Give me the crown. Here, cousin, seize 
the crown; 
Here cousin, 
On this side my hand and on that side thine. 

157 conduct: escort 159 sureties: bail answer: trial 

165 insinuate : ingratiate myself 168 favours: faces 

169 sometime : formerly 



King Richard the Second , IV. i 79 

Now is this golden crown like a deep well 184 

That owes two buckets filling one another; 

The emptier ever dancing in the air, 

The other down, unseen and full of water: 

That bucket down and full of tears am I, 188 

Drinking my griefs, whilst you mount up on high. 

Boling. I thought you had been willing to resign. 

K. Rich. My crown, I am ; but still my griefs are 
mine. 
You may my glories and my state depose, 192 

But not my griefs; still am I king of those. 

Boling. Part of your cares you give me with your 
crown. 

K. Rich. Your cares set up do not pluck my cares 
down. 
My care is loss of care, by old care done: 196 

Your care is gain of care, by new care won. 
The cares I give I have, though given away; 
They tend the crown, yet still with me they stay. 

Boling. Are you contented to resign the crown? 200 

K. Rich. Ay, no; no, ay; for I must nothing be; 
Therefore no no, for I resign to thee. 
Now mark me how I will undo myself: 
I give this heavy weight from off my head, 204 

And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand, 
The pride of kingly sway from out my heart; 
With mine own tears I wash away my balm, 
With mine own hands I give away my crown, 208 
With mine own tongue deny my sacred state, 
With mine own breath release all duteous rites: 
All pomp and majesty I do forswear; 
My manors, rents, revenues, I forgo; 212 

185 owes: possesses 

194-198 care: with double meaning, 'anxiety' and 'grief 

199 tend: accompany 201, 202 Cf. n. 

210 release: surrender 



so The Life and Death of 

My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny: 

God pardon all oaths that are broke to me! 

God keep all vows unbroke are made to thee! 

Make me, that nothing have, with nothing griev'd, 216 

And thou with all pleas'd, that hast all achiev'd ! 

Long mayst thou live in Richard's seat to sit, 

And soon lie Richard in an earthy pit ! 

God save King Henry, unking' d Richard says, 220 

And send him many years of sunshine days ! 

What more remains? 

North. [Offering a paper.] No more, but that you 
read 
These accusations and these grievous crimes 
Committed by your person and your followers 224 
Against the state and profit of this land; 
That, by confessing them, the souls of men 
May deem that you are worthily depos'd. 

K. Rich. Must I do so ? and must I ravel out 228 
My weav'd-up follies? Gentle Northumberland, 
If thy offences were upon record, 
Would it not shame thee in so fair a troop 
To read a lecture of them? If thou wouldst, 232 
There shouldst thou find one heinous article, 
Containing the deposing of a king, 
And cracking the strong warrant of an oath, 
Mark'd with a blot, damn'd in the book of heaven. 236 
Nay, all of you that stand and look upon me, 
Whilst that my wretchedness doth bait myself, 
Though some of you with Pilate wash your hands, 
Showing an outward pity; yet you Pilates 240 

Have here deliver'd me to my sour cross, 
And water cannot wash away your sin. 

North. My lord, dispatch; read o'er these articles. 

225 state: settled order profit: progress 238 bait: harass 

239 Cf.n. 241 sour: harsh 243 dispatch: hasten 



King Richard the Second, IV. i 81 

K. Rich. Mine eyes are full of tears, I cannot 
see : 244 

And yet salt water blinds them not so much 
But they can see a sort of traitors here. 
Nay, if I turn mine eyes upon myself, 
I find myself a traitor with the rest; 248 

For I have given here my soul's consent 
To undeck the pompous body of a king; 
Made glory base and sovereignty a slave, 
Proud majesty a subject, state a peasant. 252 

North. My lord, — 

K. Rich. No lord of thine, thou haught insulting 
man, 
Nor no man's lord; I have no name, no title, 
No, not that name was given me at the font, 256 
But 'tis usurp'd: alack the heavy day! 
That I have worn so many winters out, 
And know not now what name to call myself. 
O! that I were a mockery king of snow, 260 

Standing before the sun of Bolingbroke, 
To melt myself away in water-drops. 
Good king, great king, — and yet not greatly good — 
An if my word be sterling yet in England, 264 

Let it command a mirror hither straight, 
That it may show me what a face I have, 
Since it is bankrupt of his majesty. 

Boling. Go some of you and fetch a looking- 
glass. 268 

[Exit an Attendant.] 

North. Read o'er this paper while the glass doth 
come. 

K. Rich. Fiend ! thou torment'st me ere I come to 
hell. 

246 sort: 'crevf 252 state: grandeur 254 haught: haughty 

256 Cf. n. 264 be sterling: pass current 



82 The Life and Death of 

Boling. Urge it no more, my Lord Northumber- 
land. 
North. The commons will not then be satisfied. 272 
K.Rich. They shall be satisfied: I'll read enough 
When I do see the very book indeed 
Where all my sins are writ, and that's myself. 

Enter one with a Glass. 

Give me that glass, and therein will I read. 276 
No deeper wrinkles yet? Hath sorrow struck 
So many blows upon this face of mine 
And made no deeper wounds ? O, flattering glass ! 
Like to my followers in prosperity, 280 

Thou dost beguile me. Was this face the face 
That every day under his household roof 
Did keep ten thousand men? Was this the face 
That like the sun did make beholders wink? 284 
Was this the face that fac'd so many follies, 
And was at last out-fac'd by Bolingbroke? 
A brittle glory shineth in this face: 
As brittle as the glory is the face; 288 

[Dashes the glass against the ground.] 
For there it is, crack'd in a hundred shivers. 
Mark, silent king, the moral of this sport, 
How soon my sorrow hath destroy'd my face. 

Boling. The shadow of your sorrow hath de- 
stroy'd 292 
The shadow of your face. 

K. Rich. Say that again. 

The shadow of my sorrow! Ha! let's see: 
'Tis very true, my grief lies all within; 
And these external manners of laments 296 

Are merely shadows to the unseen grief 

272 Cf. n. on 154 above 281 beguile: flatter 

284 wink: close their eyes 



King Richard the Second, IV. i 83 

That swells with silence in the tortur'd soul ; 
There lies the substance: and I thank thee, king, 
For thy great bounty, that not only giv'st 300 

Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way 
How to lament the cause. I'll beg one boon, 
And then be gone and trouble you no more. 
Shall I obtain it? 

Boling. Name it, fair cousin. 304 

K.Rich. 'Fair cousin!' I am greater than a king; 
For when I was a king, my flatterers 
Were then but sub j ects ; being now a subj ect, 
I have a king here to my flatterer. 308 

Being so great, I have no need to beg. 

Boling. Yet ask. 

K.Rich. And shall I have? 

Boling. You shall. 312 

K. Rich. Then give me leave to go. 

Boling. Whither? 

K. Rich. Whither you will, so I were from your 
sights. 

Boling. Go, some of you, convey him to the 
Tower. 316 

K. Rich. O, good ! convey ? conveyers are you all, 
That rise thus nimbly by a true king's fall. 

[Exeunt King Richard and Guard.] 

Boling. On Wednesday next we solemnly set down 

Our coronation; lords, prepare yourselves. 320 

Exeunt [all except the Bishop of Carlisle, the 

Abbot of Westminster, and Aumerle~\. 

Abbot. A woeful pageant have we here beheld. 

Bishop. The woe's to come; the children yet un- 
born 
Shall feel this day as sharp to them as thorn. 

308 to: as 316 convey: conduct; cf: n. 

319 Wednesday; cf. n. 



84 The Life and Death of 

Aum. You holy clergymen, is there no plot 324 

To rid the realm of this pernicious blot? 

Abbot. My lord, 
Before I freely speak my mind herein, 
You shall not only take the sacrament 328 

To bury mine intents, but also to effect 
Whatever I shall happen to devise. 
I see your brows are full of discontent, 
Your hearts of sorrow, and your eyes of tears: 332 
Come home with me to supper; I will lay 
A plot shall show us all a merry day. Exeunt. 



ACT FIFTH 

Scene One 

[London. A Street leading to the Tower"} 
Enter Queen and Ladies. 

Queen. This way the king will come; this is the 
way 
To Julius Caesar's ill-erected tower, 
To whose flint bosom my condemned lord 
Is doom'd a prisoner by proud Bolingbroke. 4 

Here let us rest, if this rebellious earth 
Have any resting for her true king's queen. 

Enter Richard and Guard. 

But soft, but see, or rather do not see, 

My fair rose wither: yet look up, behold, 8 

That you in pity may dissolve to dew, 

And wash him fresh again with true-love tears. 

329 bury: conceal intents: designs 

2 ill-erected: built under evil auspices tower: the Tower of London 



King Richard the Second, V.i 85 

Ah! thou, the model where old Troy did stand, 
Thou map of honour, thou King Richard's tomb, 12 
And not King Richard; thou most beauteous inn, 
Why should hard-favour'd grief be lodg'd in thee, 
When triumph is become an alehouse guest? 

K. Rick. Join not with grief, fair woman, do not 

SO, 16 

To make my end too sudden : learn, good soul, 

To think our former state a happy dream; 

From which awak'd, the truth of what we are 

Shows us but this. I am sworn brother, sweet, 20 

To grim Necessity, and he and I 

Will keep a league till death. Hie thee to France, 

And cloister thee in some religious house: 

Our holy lives must win a new world's crown, 24 

Which our profane hours here have stricken down. 

Queen. What! is my Richard both in shape and 
mind 
Transform'd and weaken'd! Hath Bolingbroke de- 

pos'd 
Thine intellect? hath he been in thy heart? 28 

The lion dying thrusteth forth his paw 
And wounds the earth, if nothing else, with rage 
To be o'erpower'd; and wilt thou, pupil-like, 
Take thy correction mildly, kiss the rod, 82 

And fawn on rage with base humility, 
Which art a lion and a king of beasts? 

K. Rich. A king of beasts indeed ; if aught but 
beasts, 

I had been still a happy king of men. 36 
Good sometime queen, prepare thee hence for France, 
Think I am dead, and that even here thou tak'st, 

II model: ground-plan; cf. n. 14 hard-favour'd : ugly-featured 
15 Cf. n. 20 sworn brother; cf. n. 
24 new world's: heavenly 25 profane: of this world 
34 Which: refers to Richard 37 hence: to go hence 



86 The Life and Death of 

As from my death-bed, thy last living leave. 

In winter's tedious nights sit by the fire 40 

With good old folks, and let them tell thee tales 

Of woeful ages, long ago betid; 

And ere thou bid good night, to quite their griefs, 

Tell thou the lamentable tale of me, 44 

And send the hearers weeping to their beds: 

For why the senseless brands will sympathize 

The heavy accent of thy moving tongue, 

And in compassion weep the fire out; 48 

And some will mourn in ashes, some coal-black, 

For the deposing of a rightful king. 

Enter Northumberland. 

North. My lord, the mind of Bolingbroke is 
chang'd; 
You must to Pomfret, not unto the Tower. 52 

And, madam, there is order ta'en for you; 
With all swift speed you must away to France. 

K. Rich. Northumberland, thou ladder wherewithal 
The mounting Bolingbroke ascends my throne, 56 
The time shall not be many hours of age 
More than it is, ere foul sin gathering head 
Shall break into corruption. Thou shalt think, 
Though he divide the realm and give thee half, 60 

It is too little, helping him to all; 
And he shall think that thou, which know'st the way 
To plant unrightful kings, wilt know again, 
Being ne'er so little urg'd, another way 64 

To pluck him headlong from the usurped throne. 
The love of wicked friends converts to fear; 
That fear to hate, and hate turns one or both 

42 betid: befallen 43 quite : reward 

46 For why : because sympathize : have a fellow feeling for 

52 Pomfret; cf. n. 53 order ta'en: arrangements made 

58 gathering head: i.e., like a boil 66 converts: turns 



King Richard the Second, V. i 87 

To worthy danger and deserved death. 68 

North. My guilt be on my head, and there an end. 
Take leave and part; for you must part forthwith. 

K. Rich. Doubly divorc'd ! Bad men, ye violate 
A two-fold marriage; twixt my crown and me, 72 
And then, betwixt me and my married wife. 
Let me unkiss the oath 'twixt thee and me; 
And yet not so, for with a kiss 'twas made. 
Part us, Northumberland: I towards the north, 76 
Where shivering cold and sickness pines the clime; 
My wife to France: from whence, set forth in pomp, 
She came adorned hither like sweet May, 
Sent back like Hallowmas or short'st of day. • 80 

Queen. And must we be divided? must we part? 

K. Rich. Ay, hand from hand, my love, and heart 
from heart. 

Queen. Banish us both and send the king with me. 

North. That were some love but little policy. 84 

Queen. Then whither he goes, thither let me go. 

K. Rich. So two, together weeping, make one woe. 
Weep thou for me in France, I for thee here; 
Better far off, than near, be ne'er the near. 88 

Go, count thy ways with sighs, I mine with groans. 

Queen. So longest way shall have the longest 
moans. 

K. Rich. Twice for one step I'll groan, the way 
being short, 
And piece the way out with a heavy heart. 92 

Come, come, in wooing sorrow let's be brief, 
Since, wedding it, there is such length in grief. 
One kiss shall stop our mouths, and dumbly part; 

68 worthy: well justified 74 unkiss: undo with a kiss 

77 pines: afflicts 80 Hallowmas: All Saints' Day, November i 

88 near; cf. n. 



88 The Life and Death of 

Thus give I mine, and thus take I thy heart. 96 

[They kiss.] 
Queen. Give me mine own again; 'twere no good 
part 
To take on me to keep and kill thy heart. 

[They kiss again.~\ 
So, now I have mine own again, be gone, 
That I may strive to kill it with a groan. 100 

K. Rich. We make woe wanton with this fond de- 
lay: 
Once more, adieu; the rest let sorrow say. 

Exeunt. 

Scene Two 

[A Room in the Duke of York's Palace] 

Enter York and his Duchess. 

Duch. My lord, you told me you would tell the 
rest, 
When weeping made you break the story off, 
Of our two cousins coming into London. 

York. Where did I leave? 

Duch. At that sad stop, my lord, 4 

Where rude misgovern'd hands, from windows' tops, 
Threw dust and rubbish on King Richard's head. 

York. Then, as I said, the duke, great Bolingbroke, 
Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed, 8 

Which his aspiring rider seem'd to know, 
With slow but stately pace kept on his course, 
Whilst all tongues cried, 'God save thee, Boling- 
broke !' 

101 wanton: pampered, 'spoiled' fond: foolishly affectionate, also 

vain 3 two cousins: i.e., Richard and Bolingbroke 

4 leave: pause 



King Richard the Second, V. ii 89 

You would have thought the very windows spake, 12 
So many greedy looks of young and old 
Through casements darted their desiring eyes 
Upon his visage, and that all the walls 
With painted imagery had said at once 16 

'Jesu preserve thee! welcome, Bolingbroke !' 
Whilst he, from the one side to the other turning, 
Bare-headed, lower than his proud steed's neck, 
Bespake them thus, 'I thank you, countrymen': 20 
And thus still doing, thus he pass'd along. 

Duck. Alack, poor Richard! where rode he the 

whilst ? 
York. As in a theatre, the eyes of men, 
After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage, 24 

Are idly bent on him that enters next, 
Thinking his prattle to be tedious; 
Even so, or with much more contempt, men's eyes 
Did scowl on Richard: no man cried, 'God save 

him' ; 28 

No j oy f ul tongue gave him his welcome home ; 
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head, 
Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off, 
His face still combating with tears and smiles, 32 
The badges of his grief and patience, 
That had not God, for some strong purpose, steel'd 
The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted, 
And barbarism itself have pitied him. 36 

But heaven hath a hand in these events, 
To whose high will we bound our calm contents. 
To Bolingbroke are we sworn subjects now. 
Whose state and honour I for aye allow. 40 

Duch. Here comes my son Aumerle. 

16 painted imagery; cf. n. 25 idly: heedlessly 

38 bound: limit contents: wishes 40 allow: approve 

41 my son; cf. n. 



90 The Life and Death of 

York. Aumerle that was; 

But that is lost for being Richard's friend, 
And, madam, you must call him Rutland now. 
I am in parliament pledge for his truth 44 

And lasting fealty to the new-made king. 

Enter Aumerle. 

Duch. Welcome, my son: who are the violets now 
That strew the green lap of the new come spring? 

Aum. Madam, I know not, nor I greatly care 
not: 48 

God knows I had as lief be none as one. 

York. Well, bear you well in this new spring of 
time, 
Lest you be cropp'd before you come to prime. 
What news from Oxford? hold those justs and 
triumphs ? 52 

Aum. For aught I know, my lord, they do. 

York. You will be there, I know. 

Aum. If God prevent it not, I purpose so. 

York. What seal is that that hangs without thy 
bosom? 56 

Yea, look'st thou pale? let me see the writing. 

Aum. My lord, 'tis nothing. 

York. No matter then, who see it: 

I will be satisfied; let me see the writing. 

Aum. I do beseech your Grace to pardon me: 60 
It is a matter of small consequence, 
Which for some reasons I would not have seen. 

York. Which for some reasons, sir, I mean to see. 
I fear, I fear, — 

Duch. What should you fear? 64 

43 Rutland; cf. n. 46,47 Cf.n. 51 prime: maturity 

52 justs: tournaments triumphs: public festivities 

56 without: outside 



King Richard the Second, V. ii 91 

'Tis nothing but some bond he's enter'd into 
For gay apparel 'gainst the triumph day. 

York. Bound to himself? what doth he with a 
bond 
That he is bound to ? Wife, thou art a fool. 68 

Boy, let me see the writing. 

Aum. I do beseech you, pardon me; I may not 

show it. 
York. I will be satisfied; let me see it, I say. 

He plucks it out of his bosom and reads it. 
Treason ! foul treason ! villain ! traitor ! slave ! 72 

Duch. What is the matter, my lord? 
York. Ho! who is within there? 

[Enter a Servant.] 

Saddle my horse. 
God for his mercy! what treachery is here! 

Duch. Why, what is it, my lord? 76 

York. Give me my boots, I say; saddle my horse. 
Now, by mine honour, by my life, my troth, 
I will appeach the villain. [Exit Servant.] 

Duch. «. What's the matter? 

York. Peace, foolish woman. 80 

Duch. I will not peace. What is the matter, 
Aumerle ? 

Aum. Good mother, be content; it is no more 
Than my poor life must answer. 

Duch. Thy life answer! 

York. Bring me my boots : I will unto the king. 84 

Enter Servant with boots. 

Duch. Strike him, Aumerle. Poor boy, thou art 
amaz'd. 

65 bond: agreement 74 Cf. n. 

79 appeach: inform against 81 peace : be silent 

82 content: tranquil 83 answer: atone for 85 amaz'd: dazed 



92 The Life and Death of 

[To Servant.] Hence, villain! never more come in my 
sight. [Exit Servant.] 

York. Give me my boots, I say. 

Duch. Why, York, what wilt thou do? 88 

Wilt thou not hide the trespass of thine own? 
Have we more sons, or are we like to have? 
Is not my teeming date drunk up with time? 
And wilt thou pluck my fair son from mine age, 92 
And rob me of a happy mother's name? 
Is he not like thee? is he not thine own? 

York. Thou fond, mad woman, 
Wilt thou conceal this dark conspiracy? 96 

A dozen of them here have ta'en the sacrament, 
And interchangeably set down their hands, 
To kill the king at Oxford. 

Duch. He shall be none; 

We'll keep him here: then, what is that to him? 100 

York. Away, fond woman ! were he twenty times 
My son, I would appeach him. 

Duch. Hadst thou groan'd for him 

As I have done, thou'dst be more pitiful. 
But now I know thy mind: thou dost suspect 104 

That I have been disloyal to thy bed, 
And that he is a bastard, not thy son: 
Sweet York, sweet husband, be not of that mind: 
He is as like thee as a man may be, 108 

Not like to me, nor any of my kin, 
And yet I love him. 

York. Make way, unruly woman! Exit. 

Duch. After, Aumerle ! Mount thee upon his 
horse ; 
Spur post, and get before him to the king, 112 

91 teeming: child-bearing 

98 And . . . hands: 'reciprocally signed an agreement' 

99 none: not of them 112 post: in haste 



King Richard the Second, V. Hi 93 

And beg thy pardon ere he do accuse thee. 
I'll not be long behind; though I be old, 
I doubt not but to ride as fast as York: 
And never will I rise up from the ground 116 

Till Bolingbroke have pardon'd thee. Away! be 
gone. Exeunt. 



Scene Three 
[Windsor. A Room in the Castle'] 

Enter Bolingbroke, Percy, and other Lords. 

Boling. Can no man tell me of my unthrifty son? 
'Tis full three months since I did see him last. 
If any plague hang over us, 'tis he. 
I would to God, my lords, he might be found: 4 

Inquire at London, 'mongst the taverns there, 
For there, they say, he daily doth frequent, 
With unrestrained loose companions, 
Even such, they say, as stand in narrow lanes 8 

And beat our watch and rob our passengers ; 
While he, young wanton and effeminate boy, 
Takes on the point of honour to support 
So dissolute a crew. 12 

H. Percy. My lord, some two days since I saw the 
prince, 
And told him of these triumphs held at Oxford. 

Boling. And what said the gallant? 

H.Percy. His answer was: he would unto the 
stews, 16 

And from the common'st creature pluck a glove, 

1 unthrifty : ne'er-do-well; cf. n. 

9 watch: Elizabethan equivalent of constables passengers: passers-by 

10 wanton: spoilt child 15 gallant: young blood 
16 stews: brothels 



9* The Life and Death of 

And wear it as a favour; and with that 
He would unhorse the lustiest challenger. 

Boling. As dissolute as desperate; yet, through 
both, 20 

I see some sparks of better hope, 
Which elder years may happily bring forth. 
But who comes here? 

Enter Aumerle, amazed. 

Aum. Where is the king? 

Boling. What means 24 

Our cousin, that he stares and looks so wildly? 
Aum. God save your Grace! I do beseech your 
ma j esty, 
To have some conference with your Grace alone. 
Boling. Withdraw yourselves, and leave us here 
alone. 28 

[Exeunt Percy and Lords.'] 
What is the matter with our cousin now? 

Aum. [Kneels.] For ever may my knees grow to 
the earth, 
My tongue cleave to my roof within my mouth, 
Unless a pardon ere I rise or speak. 32 

Boling. Intended or committed was this fault? 
If on the first, how heinous e'er it be, 
To win thy after-love I pardon thee. 

Aum. Then give me leave that I may turn the 
key, 36 

That no man enter till my tale be done. 
Boling. Have thy desire. 

[Aumerle locks the door.] The Duke of 

York knocks at the door and crieth. 

York. Within. My liege, beware! look to thyself; 

18 favour; cf. n. 20 desperate: reckless 

32 Unless: supply 'I receive' 



King Richard the Second, V. Hi 95 

Thou hast a traitor in thy presence there. 40 

Boling. [Drawing.] Villain, I'll make thee safe. 
Aum. Stay thy revengeful hand; thou hast no cause 

to fear. 
York. [Within.] Open the door, secure, foolhardy 
king: 
Shall I for love speak treason to thy face? 44 

Open the door, or I will break it open. 

[BolingbroJce unlocks the door; and after- 
wards relocks it.~\ 

Enter York. 

Boling. What is the matter, uncle? speak; 
Recover breath; tell us how near is danger, 
That we may arm us to encounter it. 48 

York. Peruse this writing here, and thou shalt 
know 
The treason that my haste forbids me show. 

Aum. Remember, as thou read'st, thy promise 
pass'd: 
I do repent me ; read not my name there ; 52 

My heart is not confederate with my hand. 

York. 'Twas, villain, ere thy hand did set it down. 
I tore it from the traitor's bosom, king; 
Fear, and not love, begets his penitence. 56 

Forget to pity him, lest thy pity prove 
A serpent that will sting thee to the heart. 

Boling. O heinous, strong, and bold conspiracy! 
O loyal father of a treacherous son! 60 

Thou sheer, immaculate, and silver fountain, 
From whence this stream through muddy passages 
Hath held his current and defil'd himself ! 
Thy overflow of good converts to bad, 64 

43 secure: falsely confident 61 sheer: pure 



96 The Life and Death of 

And thy abundant goodness shall excuse 
This deadly blot in thy digressing son. 

York. So shall my virtue be his vice's bawd. 
And he shall spend mine honour with his shame, 68 
As thriftless sons their scraping fathers' gold. 
Mine honour lives when his dishonour dies, 
Or my sham'd life in his dishonour lies : 
Thou kill'st me in his life; giving him breath, 72 

The traitor lives, the true man's put to death. 

Duch. Within. What ho, my liege! for God's sake 
let me in. 

Boling. What shrill-voic'd suppliant makes this 
eager cry? 

Duch. '[Within.'] A woman, and thine aunt, great 
king; 'tis I. 76 

Speak with me, pity me, open the door: 
A beggar begs, that never begg'd before. 

Boling. Our scene is alter'd from a serious thing, 
And now chang'd to 'The Beggar and the King.' 80 
My dangerous cousin, let your mother in: 
I know she's come to pray for your foul sin. 

[Aumerle unlocks the door.] 

York. If thou do pardon, whosoever pray, 
More sins, for this forgiveness, prosper may. 84 

This fester'd joint cut off, the rest rest sound; 
This, let alone, will all the rest confound. 

Enter Duchess. 

Duch. O king! believe not this hard-hearted man: 
Love, loving not itself, none other can. 88 

York. Thou frantic woman, what dost thou make 
here ? 
Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear? 

66 digressing: erring 69 scraping: parsimonious 80 Cf. n. 

88 none other can: can love no one else 89 make: do 



King Richard the Second, V. Hi 97 

Duch. Sweet York, be patient. [Kneels.] 

Hear me, gentle liege. 

Boling. Rise up, good aunt. 

Duch. Not yet, I thee beseech. 92 

For ever will I walk upon my knees, 
And never see day that the happy sees, 
Till thou give joy; until thou bid me joy, 
By pardoning Rutland, my transgressing boy. 96 

Aum. Unto my mother's prayers I bend my knee. 

[Kneels.'] 

York. Against them both my true j oints bended be. 

[Kneels.] 
Ill mayst thou thrive if thou grant any grace ! 

Duch. Pleads he in earnest ? look upon his face ; 100 
His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are in jest; 
His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast : 
He prays but faintly and would be denied; 
We pray with heart and soul and all beside: 104 

His weary joints would gladly rise, I know; 
Our knees shall kneel till to the ground they grow: 
His prayers are full of false hypocrisy; 
Ours of true zeal and deep integrity. 108 

Our prayers do out-pray his; then let them have 
That mercy which true prayer ought to have. 

Boling. Good aunt, stand up. 

Duch. Nay, do not say 'stand up' ; 

Say 'pardon' first, and afterwards 'stand up.' 112 
An if I were thy nurse, thy tongue to teach, 
'Pardon' should be the first word of thy speech. 
I never long'd to hear a word till now; 
Say 'pardon,' king; let pity teach thee how: 116 

The word is short, but not so short as sweet; 
No word like 'pardon,' for kings' mouths so meet. 

99 grace: mercy 118 meet: fitting 



98 The Life and Death of 

York. Speak it in French, king; say, 'pardonnez 
moy. 3 

Duch. Dost thou teach pardon pardon to de- 
stroy ? 120 
Ah ! my sour husband, my hard-hearted lord, 
That sett'st the word itself against the word. 
Speak 'pardon' as 'tis current in our land; 
The chopping French we do not understand. 124 
Thine eye begins to speak, set thy tongue there, 
Or in thy piteous heart plant thou thine ear, 
That hearing how our plaints and prayers do pierce, 
Pity may move thee pardon to rehearse. 128 

Boling. Good aunt, stand up. 

Duch. I do not sue to stand; 

Pardon is all the suit I have in hand. 

Boling. I pardon him, as God shall pardon me. 

Duch. O happy vantage of a kneeling knee! 132 
Yet am I sick for fear: speak it again; 
Twice saying 'pardon' doth not pardon twain, 
But makes one pardon strong. 

Boling. With all my heart 

I pardon him. 

Duch. A god on earth thou art. 136 

Boling. But for our trusty brother-in-law and the 
abbot, 
With all the rest of that consorted crew, 
Destruction straight shall dog them at the heels. 
Good uncle, help to order several powers 140 

To Oxford, or where'er these traitors are: 
They shall not live within this world, I swear, 
But I will have them, if I once know where. 

119 pardonnez moy: excuse me {from granting it) 

124 chopping: changing the meaning of words 

128 rehearse : recite 137 brother-in-law; cf. n. 

138 consorted : leagued 140 order: regulate the dispatch of 



King Richard the Second, V . vo, v 9 $ 

Uncle, farewell: and cousin too, adieu: 144 

Your mother well hath pray'd, and prove you true. 
Duck. Come, my old son: I pray God make thee 
new. Exeunt. 

Scene Four 
[Another Room in the Castle~\ 

Enter Exton and Servants. 

Exton. Didst thou not mark the king, what words 
he spake? 
'Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear ?' 
Was it not so? 

Serv. Those were his very words. 

Exton. 'Have I no friend?' quoth he: he spake it 
twice, 4 

And urg'd it twice together, did he not? 

Serv. He did. 

Exton. And speaking it, he wistly looked on me, 
As who should say, 'I would thou wert the man 8 
That would divorce this terror from my heart/ 
Meaning the king at Pomfret. Come, let's go: 

I am the king's friend, and will rid his foe. 

Exeunt. 

Scene Five 

[Pomfret. The Dungeon of the Castle] 
Enter Richard. 

K. Rich. I have been studying how I may compare 
This prison where I live unto the world: 

Scene Four; cf. n. 7 wistly: wistfully 

II rid: make away with Scene Five; cf. n. 
1 studying: pondering 



ioo The Life and Death of 

And for because the world is populous, 

And here is not a creature but myself, 4 

I cannot do it; yet I'll hammer it out. 

My brain I'll prove the female to my soul; 

My soul the father : and these two beget 

A generation of still-breeding thoughts, 8 

And these same thoughts people this little world 

In humours like the people of this world, 

For no thought is contented. The better sort, 

As thoughts of things divine, are intermix'd 12 

With scruples, and do set the word itself 

Against the word: 

As thus, 'Come, little ones'; and then again, 

'It is as hard to come as for a camel 16 

To thread the postern of a needle's eye.' 

Thoughts tending to ambition, they do plot 

Unlikely wonders ; how these vain weak nails 

May tear a passage through the flinty ribs 20 

Of this hard world, my ragged prison walls ; 

And, for they cannot, die in their own pride. 

Thoughts tending to content flatter themselves 

That they are not the first of fortune's slaves, 24 

Nor shall not be the last; like silly beggars 

Who sitting in the stocks refuge their shame, 

That many have and others must sit there: 

And in this thought they find a kind of ease, 28 

Bearing their own misfortunes on the back 

Of such as have before endur'd the like. 

Thus play I in one person many people, 

And none contented: sometimes am I king; 32 

6 prove: establish as 8 still-breeding: continually breeding 

9 little world; cf. n. 10 humours: temperaments 

13 scruples: doubts 13, 14 word: the Gospel 

15, 16 Cf. St. Matthew II. 28; 19. 14, 24 17 postern: small gate 

21 ragged : rough .25 silly: poor 

26 refuge their shame: cover their shame with the reflection 



King Richard the Second, V. v 101 

Then treasons make me wish myself a beggar, 

And so I am: then crushing penury 

Persuades me I was better when a king; 

Then am I king'd again; and by and by 36 

Think that I am unking'd by Bolingbroke, 

And straight am nothing: but whate'er I be, 

Nor I nor any man that but man is 

With nothing shall be pleas'd, till he be eas'd 40 

With being nothing. The music plays. 

Music do I hear? 
Ha, ha ! keep time. How sour sweet music is 
When time is broke and no proportion kept! 
So is it in the music of men's lives. 44 

And here have I the daintiness of ear 
To check time broke in a disorder'd string; 
But for the concord of my state and time 
Had not an ear to hear my true time broke. 48 

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me; 
For now hath time made me his numbering clock: 
My thoughts are minutes, and with sighs they jar 
Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward 
watch, 52 

Whereto my finger, like a dial's point, 
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears. 
Now sir, the sound that tells what hour it is 
Are clamorous groans, that strike upon my heart 56 
Which is the bell: so sighs and tears and groans 
Show minutes, times, and hours ; but my time 
Runs posting on in Bolingbroke's proud joy, 
While I stand fooling here, his Jack o' the clock. 60 
This music mads me: let it sound no more; 

38 straight: immediately 43 proportion: rhythm 

45 daintiness: fastidiousness _ 46 check: reprove 

50 clock; cf. n. 51 jar: cause to tick, or indicate by ticking 

60 Jack: automaton striking the hours [at St. Dunstan's] 



102 The Life and Death of 

For though it have holp madmen to their wits, 

In me it seems it will make wise men mad. 

Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me! 64 

For 'tis a sign of love, and love to Richard 

Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world. 

Enter a Groom of the Stable. 

Groom. Hail, royal prince! 

K.Rich. Thanks, noble peer; 

The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear. 68 

What art thou ? and how comest thou hither, 
Where no man never comes but that sad dog 
That brings me food to make misfortune live? 

Groom. I was a poor groom of thy stable, king, 72 
When thou wert king; who, travelling towards York, 
With much ado at length have gotten leave 
To look upon my sometimes royal master's face. 
O ! how it yearn'd my heart when I beheld 76 

In London streets, that coronation day 
When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary, 
That horse that thou so often hast bestrid, 
That horse that I so carefully have dress'd. 80 

K. Rich. Rode he on Barbary ? Tell me, gentle 
friend, 
How went he under him? 

Groom. So proudly as if he disdain'd the ground. 

K. Rich. So proud that Bolingbroke was on his 
back ! 84 

That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand; 
This hand hath made him proud with clapping him. 
Would he not stumble? Would he not fall down, — 
Since pride must have a fall, — and break the neck 88 
Of that proud man that did usurp his back? 

62 holp: helped 66 brooch: ornament; cf. n. 

68 Cf. n. 76 yearn'd : grieved 



King Richard the Second, V.v 103 

Forgiveness, horse ! why do I rail on thee, 

Since thou, created to be aw'd by man, 

Wast born to bear ? I was not made a horse ; 92 

And yet I bear a burden like an ass, 

Spurr'd, galTd, and tir'd by jauncing Bolingbroke. 

Enter one to Richard with meat. 

Keep. [To the Groom.~\ Fellow, give place; here is 

no longer stay. 
K. Rich. If thou love me, 'tis time thou wert 

away. 96 

Groom. What my tongue dares not, that my heart 

shall say. Exit Groom. 

Keep. My lord, will 't please you to fall to? 
K. Rich. Taste of it first, as thou art wont to do. 

Keep. My lord, I dare not: Sir Pierce of Ex- 100 
ton, who lately came from the king, commands 
the contrary. 
K. Rich. The devil take Henry of Lancaster, and 

thee! 
Patience is stale, and I am weary of it. 104 

[Strikes the Keeper.] 
Keep. Help, help, help ! 

The murderers rush in. 

K. Rich. How now ! what means death in this rude 

assault ? 

Villain, thine own hand yields thy death's instrument. 

[Snatching a weapon and killing one.] 

Go thou and fill another room in hell. 108 

[He kills another.] Here Exton strikes him down. 

That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire 

94 jauncing: hard-riding 108 room: place 



104 The Life and Death of 

That staggers thus my person. Exton, thy fierce 

hand 
Hath with the king's blood stain'd the king's own 

land. 
Mount, mount, my soul ! thy seat is up on high, 112 
Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die. 

[Dies.] 
Exton. As full of valour as of royal blood: 
Both have I spilt ; O ! would the deed were good ; 
For now the devil, that told me I did well, lie 

Says that this deed is chronicled in hell. 
This dead king to the living king I'll bear. 
Take hence the rest and give them burial here. 

Exeunt. 



Scene Six 
[Windsor. An Apartment in the Castle] 

Flourish. Enter BolingbroJce [and] York, with other 
Lords and Attendants. 

Boling. Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear 
Is that the rebels have consum'd with fire 
Our town of Cicester in Gloucestershire; 
But whether they be ta'en or slain we hear not. 4 

Enter Northumberland. 

Welcome, my lord. What is the news? 

North. First, to thy sacred state wish I all happi- 
ness. 
The next news is: I have to London sent 
The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent. 8 

110 staggers: makes to reel 113 gross: material 

3 Cicester; cf. n. 



King Richard the Second, V. vi 105 

The manner of their taking may appear 
At large discoursed in this paper here. 

Boling. We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains^ 
And to thy worth will add right worthy gains. 12 

Enter Fitzwater. 

Fitz. My lord, I have from Oxford sent to London 
The heads of Brocas and Sir Bennet Seely, 
Two of the dangerous consorted traitors 
That sought at Oxford thy dire overthrow. 16 

Boling. Thy pains, Fitzwater, shall not be forgot; 
Right noble is thy merit, well I wot. 

Enter Percy and Carlisle. 

H. Percy. The grand conspirator, Abbot of West- 
minster, 
With clog of conscience and sour melancholy, 20 

Hath yielded up his body to the grave; 
But here is Carlisle living, to abide 
Thy kingly doom and sentence of his pride. 

Boling. Carlisle, this is your doom: 24 

Choose out some secret place, some reverend room, 
More than thou hast, and with it j oy thy life ; 
So, as thou livest in peace, die free from strife: 
For though mine enemy thou hast ever been, 28 

High sparks of honour in thee have I seen. 

Enter Exton, with [Attendants bearing^ a coffin. 

Exton. Great king, within this coffin I present 
Thy buried fear: herein all breathless lies 
The mightiest of thy greatest enemies, 32 

Richard of Bordeaux, by me hither brought. 

10 discoursed: narrated 20 clog: weight; cf. n. 

22 abide: await 25 secret: private 

26 joy: enjoy 33 Bordeaux; cf. n. 



106 King Richard the Second, V. vi 

Boling. Exton, I thank thee not; for thou hast 
wrought 
A deed of slander with thy fatal hand 
Upon my head and all this famous land. 36 

Exton. From your own mouth, my lord, did I this 
deed. 

Boling. They love not poison that do poison need, 
Nor do I thee: though I did wish him dead, 
I hate the murderer, love him murdered. 40 

The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labour, 
But neither my good word nor princely favour: 
With Cain go wander through the shades of night, 
And never show thy head by day nor light. 44 

Lords, I protest, my soul is full of woe, 
That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow: 
Come, mourn with me for what I do lament, 
And put on sullen black incontinent. 48 

I'll make a voyage to the Holy Land, 
To wash this blood off from my guilty hand. 
March sadly after; grace my mournings here, 
In weeping after this untimely bier. 52 

Exeunt. 

35 of slander: i.e., that will give rise to slander 

40 him murdered : him who is murdered 

48 sullen: mournful incontinent: at once 51 grace: honor 

FINIS. 



NOTES 

I. i. For an understanding of the action of this 
play, it is necessary to go back to the events of the 
years 1387 and 1388. Richard, then aged twenty, 
had surrounded himself with favorites, mostly newly 
created peers. Five members of the older nobility: 
Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, the 
king's uncle; Richard, Earl of Arundel; Thomas 
Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick; Thomas Mowbray, 
Earl of Nottingham; Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of 
Derby, son of John of Gaunt, who was another 
uncle of the king's; — these five so-called 'lords ap- 
pellant' in full Parliament accused of treason five of 
Richard's favorites. The Parliament, known as the 
'Merciless/ found the latter guilty, and three were 
put to death, the other two saving their lives by 
flight. The king himself was forced to permit a 
council composed of Gloucester and his adherents to 
govern in his stead. By 1389, however, Richard was 
strong enough to dismiss the council and rule in his 
own name with the approval of Parliament. Biding 
his time and never forgiving the affront he had re- 
ceived from the 'lords appellant/ in 1397 Richard, 
hearing that the three older of them were plotting 
against him, suddenly arrested Gloucester, Arundel, 
and Warwick, on charges based on their acts in 1388. 
Warwick begged off and was banished; Arundel was 
beheaded, and his brother Thomas, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, was banished (see II. i. 282) ; Gloucester 
was sent a prisoner to Calais in charge of Thomas 
Mowbray, and there died, secretly murdered (as all 
believed) by order of the king. Mowbray and Boling- 



1 08 The Life and Death of 

broke, on the other hand, were apparently in high 
favor, being made dukes of Norfolk and Hereford 
respectively, but the former seems, reasoning from 
past events, to have remarked to Bolingbroke that 
neither of them was quite safe from the king's 
memory. Bolingbroke thereupon violated this con- 
fidence and in full Parliament assembled at Shrews- 
bury (January 30, 1398) accused Norfolk of treason 
and offered to sustain his charges in single combat. 
Both were put under arrest, and the matter was re- 
opened in Parliament meeting at Windsor (April 28- 
29, 1398), as related in this scene. Thus, by be- 
ginning here and assuming knowledge of preceding 
events, Shakespeare was able to concentrate atten- 
tion upon the last two years of Richard's life, namely, 
from April 29, 1398, to March 12, 1400, the date on 
which a body officially declared to be his was 
exhibited in St. Paul's. 

I. i. 3. Hereford. Probably pronounced Har- 
ford, in two syllables. It is spelled Herford in the 
Quartos and First Folio. In England, to this day, 
er, especially in proper names, is frequently pro- 
nounced like ar. 

I. i. 4. boisterous late appeal. That is, at the 
Parliament at Shrewsbury (see preceding note). 

I. i. 34. appellant. A knight formally accusing 
another and ready to prove his charge in a trial by 
combat. 

I. i. 59. This line may be paraphrased, 'Supposing 
for the occasion that he is not cousin to the king.' 
One had to apologize before making accusations 
against a member of the royal family. 

I. i. 131. to fetch his queen. Two years before, 
in 1396. 

I. i. 153. choler. A play on the two meanings of 
the word, 'bilious disorder' and 'anger.' 

I. i. 170. baffled. Literally, hung up by the heels, 



King Richard the Second 109 

a punishment for recreant knights; here used in 
exaggeration for 'treated with contumely/ 

I. i. 174. lions make leopards tame. Lions are 
the emblem of royalty and moreover were quartered 
on the king's coat of arms; the Mowbray arms bear 
a leopard as crest. Mowbray's reply alludes to the 
verse, 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the 
leopard his spots?' Jeremiah 13. 23. 

I. i. 192. sound . . . parle. T© sound a particu- 
lar call on drum or trumpet to signify to one's ad- 
versary the desire for conference under a truce. 
Here figurative, but frequently literal in this play. 

I. i. 204. officers-at-arms. Heralds or pursuivants, 
officers of ambassadorial privileges charged with the 
ceremonial and diplomatic functions connected with 
chivalric combat, tournaments, and public ceremonies. 

I. ii. 11. seven sons. See Genealogical Table, 
Appendix F. Besides the five there shown, Edward 
III had two sons named William, both of whom died 
in infancy. 

I. ii. 14, 15. dried by nature's course . . . by the 
Destinies cut. Two were living, two died in infancy, 
Edward the Black Prince and Lionel died natural 
deaths in maturity, and only Thomas of Woodstock, 
Duke of Gloucester, died by violence. A baseless 
rumor of poisoning was attached to Lionel's sudden 
death in Italy. 

I. ii. 53. recreant. A knight overthrown or dis- 
abled in a combat could be killed by his conqueror, 
or spared if he begged for mercy. In the latter case 
he would be called 'recreant.' 

cousin. Used by Shakespeare indiscriminately for 
all the less immediate relationships such as cousin, 
nephew, and aunt. The Duchess was Bolingbroke's 
aunt and sister-in-law. 

I. iii. 121. Withdraw. 'Come aside for private 



no The Life and Death of 

conference/ At this the king and his councillors 
would go up stage or entirely off, while the trumpets 
play 'a long flourish' to indicate a lapse of time be- 
fore their return. 

I. iii. 134. Which. The antecedent is difficult to 
discover; it may be 'aspect' (1. 127) or 'pride' (1. 
129). The Folio text of this passage, which omits 
11. 129-133, is still more incoherent. 

I. iii. 174. compassionate. The meaning of 'com- 
passionate' is disputed. It may mean (1) 'self-pity- 
ing'; (2) 'sorrowfully lamenting'; (3) 'piteous.' In 
any case the drift of the whole passage is that an 
appeal to sentiment is in vain. 

I. iii. 239-242; 268-293. These lines, present in 
all the Quartos and omitted in the Folio, seem, like 
129-133, to have been cut from the acting version 
for the sake of shortening the scene. See App. C. 

I. iii. 274. journeyman. A workman who has 
finished his apprenticeship and now hires out by the 
day, in many cases traveling about from place to 
place for the sake of experience. 

I. iv. 12-14. 'For' = 'because.' 'That' (1. 13) 
refers to his reluctance to profane the word 'fare- 
well.' Aumerle says that he could not wish Boling- 
broke to fare well, and therefore pretended to be so 
overcome with emotion as to be unable to speak at 
all. 

I. iv. 43. too great a court. 'He kept the great- 
est port [state], and mainteined the most plentifull 
house that ever any king in England did either be- 
fore this time or since. For there resorted dailie 
to his court above ten thousand persons that had 
meat and drinke there allowed them. . . . And in 
gorgeous and costlie apparrell they exceeded all 
measure, not one of them that kept within the bounds 
of his degree. Yeomen and groomes were clothed in 
silkes, with cloth of graine and skarlet, over sump- 



King Richard the Second 1 i 1 

tuous you may be sure for their estates.' (Holin- 
shed's Chronicles Richard II 1398-lJfOO and Henry 
V, edited by R. S. Wallace and Alma Hansen. Ox- 
ford. 1917. p. 48.) 

I. iv. 45. farm our royal realm. 'The common 
brute [rumor] ran, that the king had set to farme 
the realme of England, unto sir William Scroop . . . 
to sir John Bushie, sir John Bagot, and sir Henrie 
Greene knights.' {Ibid., p. 13.) This means let- 
ting out the privilege of collecting the taxes for a 
fixed sum paid in advance. 

I. iv. 48. blank charters. Blank acknowledgments 
of indebtedness, which wealthy citizens were com- 
pelled to sign, the sum being filled out at the pleas- 
ure of the king or his treasurer. 

II. i. 2. unstaid. There are three possible mean- 
ings: (1) the opposite of 'staid,' i.e., 'frivolous'; (2) 
'unchecked'; (3) 'unsupported.' 

II. i. 18-23. In the First Quarto, in general the 
most authentic text of Richard II, 1. 18 reads: 'As 
praises of whose taste the wise are found [fond] ;' the 
First Folio has, 'As praises of his state : then there are 
sound.' Craig adopts the latter reading, emending 
'sound' to 'found.' The present editor sees no good 
argument for rejecting the authority of the Quarto 
in this instance, and reads 'praises,' 'Lascivious 
metres' (1. 19), and 'reports of fashions' (1. 21) as a 
series of appositives to 'sounds' (1. 17), 'as' being 
equivalent to 'such as.' 

II. i. 94. 'Being sick myself to see it, and seeing 
disaster in thee.' 

II. i. 103. waste. A reference to legal terms, — 
'destruction of houses, woods, lands, &c, done by the 
tenant to the prejudice of the heir.' Here the extent 
of the destruction. 

II. i. 107, 108. possessed. A play on two mean- 



1 12 The Life and Death of 

ings of the word, namely, 'to be put in possession ol" 
and 'to be controlled by an evil spirit.' 

II. i. 114. As king, Richard was above the law; as 
landlord, he was, like any subject, its servant. 

II. i. 126. pelican. According to the medieval 
natural history, the pelican fed its young by wound- 
ing its breast and letting them drink the blood. Here 
(and in Lear III iv. 74: 'those pelican daughters') 
used as if the young of their own initiative wounded 
the old bird. 

II. i. 158. no 'venom else. Alluding to the fact 
that there are no snakes in Ireland. 

II. i. 168, 169. prevention of poor Bolingbrohe 
About his marriage. Holinshed {op. cit., p. 10) 
states that Richard broke up a match between Boling- 
broke and the daughter of the Due de Berri by send- 
ing the Earl of Salisbury expressly to 'surmize by 
untrue suggestion, heinous offenses against him,' and 
to forbid the King of France to permit the mar- 
riage. 

II. i. 203. letters-patents. Documents authorizing 
him to do homage for his inheritance by proxies in 
his enforced absence. Under the feudal system of 
land tenure, the heir of a deceased vassal had to do 
homage to his lord and take an oath of fealty, in 
order to secure his right to succeed to the fief, or 
land and revenues, held by his predecessor. 

II. i. 204, 205. sue His livery. To institute a suit 
as heir to obtain delivery of lands held by the court 
of wards. 

II. i. 248. And quite lost their hearts. Since this 
phrase is repeated in 1. 249, and since 1. 248 can be 
read as verse only with difficulty, it is probable that 
we have here a typesetter's error. It stands thus, 
however, in all the Quartos and Folios; hence editors 
have not attempted emendation. 

II. i. 251. benevolences. Compulsory 'free- will' 



King Richard the Second us 

aid demanded by the king from his subjects. The 
first instance of this practice is recorded of Edward 
IV in 1473, so that its imputation to Richard II is 
an anachronism. 

II. i. 254. compromise. In 1397 Brest and Cher- 
bourg had been given back to their rightful owners, 
upon payment of the ransom for which they had 
been held since 1378. 

II. i. 282. His brother, etc. A line has been lost 
here. 'The archbishop late of Canterbury' was 
Thomas Arundel, brother of the Richard, Earl of 
Arundel, who was beheaded as a result of Richard's 
coup in 1397. The latter's son Thomas was, accord- 
ing to history, a member of Bolingbroke's expedition, 
and was, moreover, the man who escaped from the 
Duke of Exeter's house. Ritson suggested insert- 
ing between 11. 280 and 281 a line almost word for 
word from Holinshed, 'The son and heir of the late 
earl of Arundel.' This certainly makes sense, and 
no worse meter than the other lines of the passage. 

II. i. 292. Imp out our broken wing. A figure 
from the art of falconry; to engraft feathers in a 
hawk's wing to restore or improve the powers of 
flight. 

II. ii. Historically, Queen Isabel was at this time 
but a child of ten, having been married to Richard 
in 1396 by her father, Charles VI of France. 

II. ii. 18. perspectives. Boards cut or channeled 
into a series of oblique flats or flanges, to which 
strips of a picture were pasted, so that, looked at 
from one side ('awry'), the whole picture appeared, 
but viewed from straight in front ('rightly') only a 
confusion was to be seen. Somewhat similar devices 
are used to-day for advertisements. 

II. ii. 30-32. A difficult passage. Punctuated as in 
the text, it may be paraphrased, 'I cannot but be so 
grievously sad as makes me faint and shrink with 



H4 The Life and Death of 

heavy (melancholy) nothing, though in thinking I 
think on no real thought.' The Queen plays on the 
words 'heavy/ 'nothing/ and 'think' until the mean- 
ing is nearly lost. Bushy's subsequent speech is fully 
justified, ' 'Tis nothing but conceit.' 

II. ii. 37. 'Or else the nothing that I am grieving 
about has something to it.' 

II. ii. 38. in reversion. Referring to the state of 
affairs in which a payment or benefit is to be re- 
ceived only after a stipulated event. 

II. ii. 57. This is the First Quarto reading; the 
Folio has, 'And the rest of the revolted faction, 
Traitors?' In the present reading, 'revolted fac- 
tion' may be taken as appositive to 'rest.' 

II. ii. 116, 117. These lines are hopelessly un- 
metrical, but need not on that account be considered 
textually corrupt. 

II. iii. 21. young Harry Percy. Hotspur was 
actually thirty-six in 1399, two years older than 
Bolingbroke, but Shakespeare here and in 1 Henry 
IV prefers to regard him as a fiery youth, precocious 
in the art of war. 

II. iii. 128. to the bay. A figure from hunting, 
to pursue the quarry until it will run no longer, but 
stops and turns on the hunters. 

II. iv. Richard, learning of Bolingbroke's land- 
ing a few days after it occurred, sent the Earl of 
Salisbury ahead of him from Ireland to Wales to 
gather him an army. He collected, Holinshed says, 
forty thousand men of Cheshire and Wales, but a 
rumor that the king was dead disheartened them so 
that they dispersed at the end of a fortnight. The 
portents mentioned (11. 8-10) are from Holinshed, but 
not in this connection. 

III. i. 25. impress. In Elizabethan usage, a sym- 
bolic figure with an appropriate motto attached, dis- 
tinguished from an heraldic emblem in that it was 



King Richard the Second 1 * 5 

not hereditary, but was selected or designed by the 
individual using it, like a modern book-plate. Also 
spelled 'impresa' and 'imprese.' An Elizabethan de- 
scription of one follows: 'An Imprese with a circle, 
and a hand with a sharpe stile pointing towards the 
center with this motto: Hie labor, hoc opus/ (Ed- 
monds : Observations on Ccesar's Commentaries. 
1604. VII, vii. II. 60.) 

III. i. 43. Glendower. A learned and powerful 
Welsh gentleman, the strongest personality of his 
time in Wales. He had made no forays upon the 
English before 1400, and was not in open rebellion 
until a year later. Some editors suspect 1. 43 of 
being interpolated, because of the anachronism and 
because 1. 42 and 1. 44 rime. 

III. ii. 1. Barhloughly Castle. Not identified. 
Holinshed has 'Barclowlie.' The Monk of Evesham 
has 'Hertlowli,' which may mean Harlech. Histori- 
cally Richard landed at Milford Haven in the west- 
ernmost part of South Wales, between July 22 and 
25, before the events of Sc. i. 

III. ii. 29-32. These lines, omitted from the Folio, 
are very obscure as printed in the Quartos, but with 
'if,' inserted in 1. 30 by Pope, and with modern punc- 
tuation, they seem to mean, 'if Heaven is willing and 
we are unwilling (i.e., hang back), we refuse heaven's 
offer, the proffered means, etc' Even within the 
play, Aumerle feels called upon to explain them to 
the king. 

III. ii. 117. double-fatal yew. Fatal in two ways, 
the yew having poisonous leaves and being the favor- 
ite wood for long-bows. 

III. ii. 118. bills. A medieval weapon having a 
long wooden handle fitted at one end with a broad 
blade or axe-like head. 

III. ii. 166. self and vain conceit. Vain fancies 
about himself. 'Conceit' never has its modern mean- 
ing in Shakespeare. 



1 1 6 The Life and Death of 

III. ii. 176. subjected. Used with a play on the 
relation between 'king' and 'subject,' and the literal 
Latin sense of 'thrown down.' 

III. ii. 209. Flint Castle. In North Wales, across 
the estuary of the Dee from Chester. Richard 
actually went to Conway Castle. 

III. iii. 15, 17. Mistake. A play on words; be- 
sides echoing 'taking' (1. 14) and 'take' (1. 16), 
Bolingbroke means 'take not amiss,' and York, 'make 
no error about the heavens' being, etc' 

III. iii. 40. banishment repeal'd. A Latin con- 
struction, equivalent to 'repeal of my banishment.' 

III. iii. 147-152. Richard offers to exchange the 
insignia of a king for those of a hermit or pilgrim. 

III. iii. 178. Phaethon. In classical myth, a 
youth who presumed to drive the chariot of the Sun, 
but was unable to control the horses. The 'unruly 
jades' ran away with him, scorching the earth and 
dashing him to his death. 

III. iv. 3-5. bowls, rubs, bias. Bowls is an ancient 
game played on a smooth oblong green about forty 
yards long, with one small ball called the 'jack' and 
twelve large heavy ones called 'bowls.' The jack is 
thrown out as a mark, and the object of the game is 
for one side to have one of its bowls nearest the jack 
at the end of the bout. 'Bias' denotes the intentional 
one-sidedness of the bowl, caused nowadays by shav- 
ing off one side, and formerly by inserting a piece 
of lead in one part of the circumference. 'Rub' is 
the name given to any natural obstruction or inequal- 
ity in the green. 

III. iv. 7, 8. measure. A play on three meanings 
of the word: (1) 'time to music'; (2) 'proportion or 
moderation'; (3) 'a stately dance.' 

III. iv. 22. And I could sing, etc. The Queen 
apparently means, 'Weeping can do me no good; if 
my troubles were as light as that, I could sing.' 



King Richard the Second n? 

III. iv. 72. press'd to death. A form of medieval 
punishment in which the victim was slowly killed 
by having weights piled upon his body. 

IV. i. 1-90. This passage follows Holinshed 
closely. These events, however, took place on No- 
vember 3, 1399, while the deposition of the king (who 
never actually appeared in Westminster Hall) oc- 
curred on September 30. 

IV. i. 4. wrought it with the king. 'Persuaded 
the king to order it/ or perhaps simply, 'aided the 
king to accomplish it.' 

IV. i. 11. Is not my arm of length? 'Is not my 
arm long when it can reach Calais,' where Gloucester 
was in prison? 

IV. i. 21. my fair stars. The high station given 
him by the propitious stars that, according to medieval 
belief, governed his birth. 

IV. i. 57. sets. A figure from dicing. 'Sets' re- 
fers to setting up a stake against the one casting the 
dice. 'I'll throw at all' means, 'I'll cover all your 
bets.' 

IV. i. 115. Worst in this royal presence. This 
may refer to the bishop's comparatively low rank in 
that assembly, or to the unwelcome nature of what he 
is about to say. Carlisle really made this speech 
October 22, three weeks after the deposition. 

IV. i. 117-119. noble. A play on the two mean- 
ings, 'high in rank' and 'lofty in character.' 

IV. i. 149. child, child's children. The reading 
of the Quartos and the Folio; the thought seems to 
be identical with that of 'children's children,' a read- 
ing adopted by Pope and many subsequent editors. 

IV. i. 154. commons' suit. 'Request was made by 
the commons, that sith king Richard has resigned, 
and was lawfully deposed from his roiall dignitie, he 
might have iudgement decreed against him . . . and 
that the causes of his deposition might be published 



118 The Life and Death of 

through the realme for satisfieng of the people/ 
(Holinshed, op. cit. t p. 62.) 

LI. 154-157 give the cue for the unhistorical scene 
of Richard's abdication in presence of Parliament. 
The deposition scene as a whole (11. 154-318) was not 
published and perhaps was only surreptitiously per- 
formed during Queen Elizabeth's reign, first appear- 
ing in the Fourth Quarto, 1608, for she did not relish 
the portrayal of a monarch's deposition, and is re- 
ported to have said, 'Know ye not that we are 
Richard II?' L. 321 is evidence that the scene 
formed an integral part of Shakespeare's original 
version. 

IV. i. 201. Ay, no; no, ay. Punning on 'ay' 
meaning 'yes,' 'I,' the pronoun, and 'nothing,' of 
which the 'o' was pronounced long. 'Since I (ay) 
must be no thing, "no ay" is no no (or, not "No")/ 
The wordplay is as abject as the king himself. 

IV. i. 239. with Pilate wash your hands. 'When 
Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that 
rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed 
his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent 
of the blood of this just person: see ye to it/ (St. 
Matthew 27. 24.) 

IV. i. 256. not that name was given me at the 
font. One of Holinshed's sources states that Richard 
was called John of Bordeaux after his fall, and 
rumors were common that he was illegitimate. The 
name John came from the circumstance that as a very 
young infant, being in danger of death, he was hastily 
baptized as John, and later, for family reasons, re- 
christened Richard. 

IV. i. 316, 317. convey. A play on the Eliza- 
bethan meanings of the word, — 'to escort' and 'to 
steal/ Thieves were called conveyers. 

IV. i. 319. On Wednesday next. It is significant 
for a study of Shakespeare's handling of history that 



King Richard the Second 1 19 

he writes a deposition scene that is not in his sources, 
and omits a spectacular coronation that is. 

V. i. 11. model where old Troy did stand. In this 
series of metaphors of departed greatness, this phrase 
seems to mean that Richard is to his former greatness 
as the now desolate traces of foundations (model =* 
ground-plan) of Ilium are to its pristine state. 

V. i. 15. alehouse guest. Another 'proportional' 
metaphor. Richard, with whom Grief lodges, is as 
an inn (i.e., hostelry of high class), while Boling- 
broke, with whom Triumph is a guest, is intrinsically 
but an alehouse. 

V. i. 20. sworn brother. In medieval chivalry, 
one knight formally pledged to comradeship in arms 
with another knight. 

V. i. 52. Pomfret. Pontefract Castle, in the West 
Riding of Yorkshire, south of York and east of Leeds. 
Queen Isabel never actually had this meeting with 
her husband, and did not go to France until June 28, 
1401. Richard was imprisoned in the Tower con- 
tinuously from his arrival in London, August 31 or 
September 1, until he was sent out towards Pomfret, 
October 29, 1399. 

V. i. 88. than near, be ne'er the near. The three 
near's sounded alike in Elizabethan pronunciation. 
The last is an old form of 'nearer.' The sense of the 
passage, as here punctuated, is, 'Better be far off 
than, being close at hand, be never the nearer.' 

V. ii. 16. With painted imagery. Apparently 
merely attributive to 'walls,' with no reference to 'had 
said.' It was the custom to hang out tapestry and the 
cheaper painted imitations of it to decorate the fronts 
of houses on the day of a procession, as we use flags. 

V. ii. 41. my son. Actually Aumerle's own 
mother, Isabel of Spain, died in 1394. This Duchess 
of York was the Duke's second wife. See App. F. 



120 The Life and Death of 

V. ii. 43. You must call him Rutland now. As a 
sequel to the disclosures of Bagot indicated in IV. i. 
1-90, Aumerle had been deprived of the title of Duke 
of Albemarle, reverting to that of Earl of Rutland. 

V. ii. 46, 47. Figurative language for 'Who are 
now the favorites at the court of the new (and up- 
start) king?' 

V. ii. 74. Ho, who is within there? The regular 
formula for calling a servant in Elizabethan times. 
'Within' refers to the space behind the wainscot par- 
tition across one end of the room. 

V. iii. 1. unthrifty son. Henry, Prince of Wales, 
the Prince Hal of 1 and 2 Henry IV, was at this time 
twelve years old, but Shakespeare presents him as 
older than this, anticipating the treatment of him in 
the later plays. 

V. iii. 18. favour. It was customary at tourna- 
ments for a knight to wear on his helmet a glove or 
similar token bestowed by his lady-love. 

V. iii. 80. 'The Beggar and the King.' Alluding 
to the title of the old ballad, King Cophetua and the 
Beggar-Maid. (Riverside British Poets, Ballads, iv. 
195.) 

V. iii. 137. brother-in-law. John Holland, Earl 
of Huntingdon, who had married Elizabeth, Boling- 
broke's sister. 

V. iv. Shakespeare chose the last of three ac- 
counts given by Holinshed of Richard's death: 
namely, that he was starved to death by being 
served rich food and not permitted to eat of it; that 
he starved himself, being 'so beaten out of heart' ; and 
that Exton was set on to murder him. The Folio, 
which supplies the act and scene division through- 
out the play, has no indication of a new scene here. 
The Quartos, which do not indicate scene divisions, 
simply have the stage direction, 'Manet Sir Pierce 
Exton &c/ 

V. v. The date of this scene is traditionally 



King Richard the Second 121 

St. Valentine's Day, February 14, 1400, historically 
some time between the middle of January and of 
February. 

V. v. 9. Utile world. A literal translation of 
'microcosm.' It was a favorite theory of Renaissance 
moralists that man epitomized within himself the 
organization of the universe or cosmos. 

V. v. 50. clock. Richard carries the figure out 
into the elements of the clock: 'jar' (1. 51) perhaps 
refers to the pendulum; 'watches' (1. 52) may mean 
the markings on the dial; the 'dial's point' (1. 53), or 
hand, the 'outward watch' (1. 52), or dial, and the 
bell are more obvious. The royal prisoner's figure 
is not perfectly proportional, for he makes his groans 
strike his heart as the sound strikes the bell, an 
absurdity. But we must not expect too much from 
a melancholy man in solitary confinement, probably 
on the brink of insanity. 

V. v. 66. brooch. Love for Richard is a strange 
ornament to be worn in this world where everybody 
hates him. 

V. v. 68. cheapest of us is ten groats too dear. 
A 'groat' was fourpence, one-third of a shilling, a 
'royal' was a coin of ten shillings or thirty groats, a 
'noble' was a coin of six shillings eightpence or twenty 
groats; hence there is ten groats' difference between 
a 'royal prince' and a 'noble peer,' and the king holds 
that the latter is worth only half his nominal value. 

V. vi. 3. Cicester. The burning of Cirencester 
and the suppression of the Abbot of Westminster's 
rebellion actually took place before the death of 
Richard. 

V. vi. 20. clog of conscience. Holinshed (op. 
cit., p. 76) gave the cue for this line in saying that 
the abbot 'for thought fell into a sudden palsie, and 
shortly after, without speech, ended his life.' 

V. vi. 33. Richard of Bordeaux. So called be- 
cause he was born there. 



APPENDIX A 

Sources of the Play 

The chief source of Richard II was the second edi- 
tion of Raphael Holinshed's chronicle. 1 We are as- 
sured that Shakespeare used the second edition by 
the fact that the portent of the withered bay-trees 
appears there and not in the first edition (see Bos- 
well-Stone, Shakespeare's Holinshed, p. x., for a 
score of similar instances from other chronicle plays). 
From Holinshed Shakespeare drew practically all his 
historical material, and in general he shows no knowl- 
edge of facts or explanations of events recorded by 
other historians. Possible exceptions to this state- 
ment are as follows: 

i. The allusion to Mowbray's fighting in the Holy 
Land (IV. i. 92-96) may have come from Stow's 
Annals. 

ii. The business of actually handing the crown to 
Bolingbroke (IV. i. 181-183), not in Holinshed, may 
have come from Berners's Froissart, xiv. 220. It is 
also in Daniel, ii. 112. 

iii. Shakespeare may have drawn from other 
plays on the subject then extant. 

iv. He may have been influenced by Daniel's The 
First Fowre Bookes of the ciuile wars between the 
two houses of Lancaster and Yorke. 1595. 

The two latter possibilities need to be discussed 
in detail. The manuscript diary of Dr. Simon For- 

i The first and second volumes of chronicles, comprising 
(1) The description and historic of England, (#) The de- 
scription and historie of Ireland, (3) The description and 
history of Scotland. First collected and published by 
R. H., W. Harrison and others. Now augmented and con- 
tinued to the yeare 1586 by J. Hooker alias Vowell and 
others. In folio. 1587. 



King Richard the Second 123 

man, preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford 
(Shakespearean excerpts reprinted in Trans. New 
Shakspere Society, 1875-1878, App. II.), refers to 
a play of Richard II, acted at the Globe Theater, 
April 30, 1611; unlike Shakespeare's, it began with 
Wat Tyler's rebellion and concerned itself with the 
machinations of the barons during Richard's tutelage. 
It seems to have been completely lost. Again, on the 
eve of the Essex rebellion (February 8, 1601), 'the 
play of deposing King Richard II' was performed 
before the conspirators. One of them, Sir Gilly 
Merrick, got Shakespeare's company to put it on, after 
a payment of a bonus of forty shillings to overcome 
their objection that 'the play was old and that they 
should have a loss in playing it, because few would 
come to it.' Camden refers to it as 'exoletam tragoe- 
diam.' In spite of the fact that Shakespeare's Rich- 
ard II, printed in quarto four times in ten years, is 
ill described as obsolete, the probabilities are in 
favor of its being the play concerned. It may well 
be that the players, reluctant to offend either Essex 
or the Queen, offered unpopularity as an excuse for 
demanding an extra sum as insurance against pros- 
ecution. Finally, there exists another play, A Trag- 
edy of Richard II, concluding with the Murder of 
the Duke of Gloster at Calais, in a manuscript of 
about 1600, privately printed by Halliwell-Phillips 
in 1870, and reprinted in Shakespeare Jahrbuch, 
XXXV. 3-121. This is a rather crude play in a 
style between Greene's and Kyd's, dealing with 
Richard II's reign from his betrothal to Anne of 
Bohemia in 1382 to the murder of Gloucester in 
1397. The German editor thinks, with good reason, 
that it was earlier than Richard II and unconnected 
with it. The hypothesis that it forms a 'first part' 
of Shakespeare's Richard II, written afterward, or 
continued by him, is disposed of by the following 
anomalies: (1) the death of the favorite, Green, who 



124 The Life and Death of 

appears in Shakespeare; (2) Gloucester is killed by 
Lapoole and not by Norfolk; (3) the King is pre- 
sented in an unsympathetic light throughout; (4) its 
end, with the King in the hands of the barons, does 
not join on with the beginning of Shakespeare's 
play. 

Shakespeare's allusive treatment, it must be said, 
of the historical events of a reign two centuries re- 
moved from the time of his production presumes a 
familiarity on the part of the play-going public due 
either to other plays on the earlier part of the reign 
or to the persistent discussion of Richard II in poems 
like Daniel's and histories like Haywarde's First Part 
of the Life and Raigne of Henrie the IV. All these 
it is likely that Shakespeare used, not as source, but 
rather as background. 

The first edition of the Ciuile Wars of Samuel 
Daniel (1595) stands in a different relation. R. G. 
White had the idea that two editions of Daniel's 
work appeared in 1595, the second of which showed 
several modifications in the sense of conformity to 
Richard II. Unfortunately, there is no objective 
evidence for this belief, and the modifications really 
date from 1599 and 1601. Aside from verbal 
parallels like C. TV. I. 83 with III. ii. 106-111, I. 60 
with I. i. 9, and IV. 90 with II. i. 44, there are at 
least two important departures from Holinshed com- 
mon to both. One is the representation of Queen 
Isabel as of woman's estate, meeting and lamenting 
with her husband in his disgrace. The other is 
Richard's soliloquy in Pomfret Castle, just before 
his murder. 

There is no proof that there was borrowing by 
either author from the other; since, however, in both 
cases Daniel's passages are cruder and tamer, be- 
sides being far from identical in substance with 
Shakespeare's, it seems more likely that the latter 
took the ideas of Daniel, infusing the soliloquy with 



King Richard the Second 125 

his own richness of eloquence and imagination, and 
elaborating the one appearance of Queen Isabel into 
three, converting mere grief into premonition, dejec- 
tion, and passionate reluctance of farewell. It is 
more in the nature of things for Shakespeare to 
color and dramatize a tame passage of a lesser poet 
(cf. his contemporary handling of Brooke's Romeus 
and Juliet) than for Daniel to change and reduce 
Shakespeare's brilliant scenes to his own dull stanzas. 
The following excerpts from Shakespeare's sources, 
if compared with the pertinent passages in the play, 
will show something of the extent and nature of his 
indebtedness and the freedom with which he dealt 
with such material: 

From Holinshed's Chronicles, ed. Wallace and Hansen, 
pp. 70-71. Compare with V. iii. 

. . . Except the earle of Rutland, by whose follie their 
practised conspiracie was brought to light and disclosed to 
king Henrie. For this earle of Rutland departing before 
from Westminster to see his father the duke of Yorke, as 
he sat at dinner, had his counterpane of the indenture of 
the confederacie in his bosome. 

The father espieng it, would needs see what it was: and 
though the sonne humblie denied to shew it, the father 
being more earnest to see it, by force tooke it out of his 
bosome; and perceiving the contents therof, in a great 
rage caused his horsses to be sadled out of hand, and spite- 
fullie reprooving his sonne of treason, for whome he was 
become suertie and mainpernour for his good abearing in 
open parlement, he incontinentlie mounted on horsse-backe 
to ride towards Windsore to the king, to declare unto him 
the malicious intent of his complices. The earle of Rut- 
land seeing in what danger he stood, tooke his horsse, and 
rode another waie to Windsore in post, so that he got 
thither before his father, and when he was alighted at the 
castell gate, he caused the gates to be shut, saieng that he 
must needs deliver the keies to the king. When he came 
before the kings presence, he kneeled downe on his knees, 
beseeching him of mercie and forgivenesse, and declaring 
the whole matter unto him in order as everie thing had 
passed, obteined pardon. Therewith came his father, and 
being let in, delivered the indenture which he had taken 



126 The Life and Death of 

from his sonne, unto the king, who thereby perceiving his 
sonnes words to be true, changed his purpose for his going 
to Oxenford. . . . 

From Daniel's Ciuile Wars, ed. Grosart. II. 64<-66; 
90-91. Compare with V. ii. and V. i. 

He that in glorie of his fortune sate, 
Admiring what hee thought could neuer be, 
Did feele his blood within salute his state, 
And lift vp his reioycing soule, to see 
So many hands and hearts congratulate 
Th' aduancement of his long-desir'd degree; 
When, prodigall of thankes, in passing by, 
He resalutes them all, with chearefull eye. 

Behind him, all aloof e, came pensiue on 
The vnregarded King; that drooping went 
Alone, and (but for spight) scarce lookt vpon: 
Iudge, if hee did more enuie, or lament. 
See what a wondrous worke this day is done; 
Which th' image of both fortunes doth present: 
In th' one, to shew the best of glories face; 
In th' other, worse then worst of all disgrace. 

Now Isabell, the young afflicted Queene 
(Whose yeares had neuer shew'd her but delights, 
Nor louely eyes before had euer seene 
Other then smiling ioyes, and ioyfull sights; 
Borne great, matcht great, liv'd great, and euer beene 
Partaker of the worlds best benefits) 
Had plac't her selfe, hearing her Lord should passe 
That way, where she vnseene in secret was; 



(she recognizes him in the procession with difficulty, 
and seeing his misfortune, goes secretly to the Tower 
to comfort him.) 

Entring the chamber, where he was alone 
(As one whose former fortune was his shame) 
Loathing th' vpbraiding eye of any one 
That knew him once, and knowes him not the same: 
When hauing giuen expresse command that none 
Should presse to him; yet hearing some that came 
Turnes angerly about his grieued eyes: 
When, lo, his sweete afflicted Queene he spyes. 



King Richard the Second 127 

Straight cleares his brow; and with a borrowed smile, 
What, my deare Queene? welcome, my deare, he sayes: 
And (striuing his owne passion to beguile, 
And hide the sorrow which his eye betrayes) 
Could speake no more; but wrings her hands, the while: 
And then, Sweet Lady; and againe he stayes: 
Th' excesse of ioy and sorrow both affordes 
Affliction none, or but poore niggard wordes. 

From The Chronicle of Froissart: translated out of 
French by Sir John Bourchier Lord Berners. {The Tudor 
Translations) 1903. Cap. CCXL. Vol. vi. p. 378. Com- 
pare with IV. i. 162-222. 

And on a day the duke of Lancastre acompanyed 
with lordes, dukes, prelates, erles, barones, and 
knyghtes, and of the notablest men of London, and 
of other good townes, rode to the Towre, and there 
alyghted. Then kynge Rycharde was brought into 
the hall, aparelled lyke a kynge in his robes of estate, 
his septer in his hande, and his crowne on his heed. 
Than he stode up alone, nat holden nor stayed by 
no man, and sayde aloude: I have been kynge of Eng- 
lande, duke of Aquytany, and lorde of Irelande, 
aboute xxii. yeres, whiche sygnory, royalte, cepter, 
erowne, and herytage, I clerely resygne here to my 
cosyn Henry of Lancastre: and I desyre hym here in 
this open presence, in entrynge of the same pos- 
sessyon, to take this septour: and so delyvered it to 
the duke, who toke it. Than kynge Rycharde toke 
the crowne fro his heed with bothe his handes, and 
set it before hym, and sayd: Fayre cosyn, Henry 
duke of Lancastre, I gyve and delyver you this 
crowne, wherwith I was crowned kyng of Englande, 
and therwith all the right therto dependyng. The 
duke of Lancastre tooke it, and the archebysshop of 
Caunterbury toke it out of the dukes handes. . . . 
Than Rycharde of Burdeaux retourned agayne into 
the chambre fro whence he came. 



APPENDIX B 

The History op the Play 

Date. The question of the date of Richard II is 
involved with that of its relation to Daniel's Ciuile 
Wars (see App. A). If we admit that Shakespeare 
was influenced by Daniel, then our play was written 
between 1595 and August, 1597, when it was entered 
in the Stationers' Register. If we suppose Shake- 
speare to have been independent of Daniel, there is 
no external evidence to fix the earlier limit of the 
date-bracket. The words in IV. i. 321 show that the 
deposition scene was part of the original play, and 
its omission from the First Quarto may point to the 
effect of Queen Elizabeth's alarm at the bull of Pope 
Clement VIII (1596) exhorting her subjects to de- 
pose her. This circumstance, the results of metrical 
tests, and the general character of the style, all go 
to confirm an assignment of the date of composition 
to a period from the middle of 1595 to the middle of 
1596. 

Stage History. In the course of the centuries, 
Richard II has proved more successful in the closet 
than on the stage. Critics discover in it high poetry 
and masterly delineation of national problems and 
human character; actors and producers find in it dis- 
appointment and financial loss. Since Shakespeare's 
time, accordingly, the separate productions are to be 
numbered on the fingers of two hands. 

Of the performances of our play before the closing 
of the theaters in 1642, nevertheless, we have an 
unusual record. First, there is its probable repre- 
sentation before the conspirators in the Essex rebel- 
lion, February 8, 1601. (See App. A.) 



King Richard the Second 129 

Queen Elizabeth had a different opinion from the 
players in regard to its popularity. In a conversa- 
tion reported by William Lambard, her Keeper of 
the Rolls, she said: 

'I am Richard II, know ye not that?' 
W.L. 'Such a wicked imagination was determined and 
attempted by a most unkind Gent, the most adorned crea- 
ture that ever your Majestie made.' 

Her Majestie. 'He that will forget God, will also forget 
his benefactors; this tragedy was played 40tie times in 
open streets and houses.' 

(The Shakespeare Allusion Book, ed. J. Munro. 
1909. Vol. I, pp. 100-101.) 

If, again, Shakespeare's play be referred to, few 
others have the distinction of having been played so 
far from England at that early date. In the journal 
of Captain Keeling of the East Indiaman Dragon, 
off Sierra Leone (in Narratives of Voyages towards 
the North West, ed. Thomas Rundall. 1849) in 
1607, appears the following passage: 

September 5. — I sent the interpreter according to his 
desier abord the 'Hector,' whear he brooke fast, and after 
came abord mee, wher we gaue the tragedie of Hamlet. . . . 

September 30. — Captain Hawkins dined with me, when 
my companions acted Kinge Richard the Second. 

The authenticity of these entries has been questioned, 
but so sane a scholar as F. S. Boas has no doubt that 
they are genuine and that the plays were Shake- 
speare's. (Shakespeare at Sea: Contemporary Re- 
view, July, 1918.) 

Still another pre-Restoration performance is re- 
corded by Sir Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels 
to James I, Charles I, and Charles II, June 12, 1631, 
when he received £5 6s. 6d. as his benefit from the 
second performance of a revived play, from the 
King's company, at the Globe. (The Dramatic Rec- 
ords of Sir Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels 



130 The Life and Death of 

1623-1678. Ed. J. Q. Adams. New Haven, London, 
and Oxford. 1917. P. 44.) 

On account of its subject, the play was freighted 
with extrinsic political significance as long as the 
doctrine of kingship by divine right was mooted in 
England. In 1681, the year of Absalom and Achit- 
ophel, Nahum Tate's adaptation, though under the 
new title of The Sicilian Usurper, with changed 
names for the dramatis personae, was 'silenced the 
third day/ In the preface to the published version 
(1681), the author complains that his production was 
suppressed without examination and that he wrote 
'with as little design of Satyr on present Transac- 
tions as Shakespear himself that wrote this Story 
before this Age began/ He alleges, moreover, that 
(if there was any such effect) he showed Richard in 
a better light than Shakespeare had done; 'I have 
everywhere given him the Language of an Active, 
Prudent Prince. Preferring the Good of his Sub- 
jects to his own private Pleasure/ Besides altering 
the King's character, Tate made York a broadly 
comic figure speaking prose, and gave Queen Isabella 
a much larger role. He not only omitted several 
scenes and altered the order of others, but inserted 
totally new scenes, such as one of low comedy be- 
tween Bolingbroke and a Rabble in Act II., and a 
rather purposeless scene between the King and the 
Queen before the abdication. His excision of the 
impeachment of Aumerle and everything connected 
with the Abbot of Westminster's plot set a precedent 
followed by practically everyone who has since pre- 
pared an acting version of this play. What deprives 
his adaptation of any right to be considered Shake- 
spearean is the numerous irritating and senseless 
verbal changes throughout, such as vessels for 
buckets (IV. i. 185) and the following rendering of 
a famous passage: 



King Richard the Second !3i 

Down, down, I come like Blazing Phaeton, 
Wanting the Menage of unruly steeds. 

After Tate's fiasco, apparently Richard II was not 
produced again until December 10, 1719, after the 
establishment of the Hanoverian dynasty, when Theo- 
bald's adaptation was given at Lincoln's Inn Fields. 
He endeavored to bring Shakespeare into more con- 
formity with classical rules, by laying all scenes at 
or near the Tower and omitting all of the first and 
second acts. He worked up a sub-plot concerned 
with Aumerle's love for Lady Percy, Northumber- 
land's daughter, and with his conspiracy to restore 
Richard. The elder Percy discovers the plot and, 
in spite of the pleading of his daughter and York, 
informs Bolingbroke. The final scene must have 
been very thrilling. First Aumerle is led across 
stage to execution. Richard has a tender passage 
of farewell with his queen, and then is set upon by 
the guards and killed. His dying words are, 'O Isa- 
bella!' Soon thereafter Lady Percy kills herself in 
grief for Aumerle, and York kills himself for Rich- 
ard. Theobald borrowed nothing from Tate, and 
more than half the text is Shakespeare's. This ver- 
sion was acted seven times its first season and re- 
mained on the acting-list for two years more. 

Nearly twenty years later, February 6, 1738, the 
play was given at Covent Garden, in Shakespeare's 
text, practically unaltered, revived at the request of 
some literary ladies. It ran ten times the first sea- 
son and four the next. The audience is said to have 
read allusion to current politics into the lines of I. ii. 
For the rest of the eighteenth century there were no 
more notable productions, though it seems likely that 
the play was in the repertory of provincial theaters. 
David Garrick contemplated producing Richard II, 
but never did so. An adaptation by Goodhall, pub- 
lished in 1772, was never acted. 



132 The Life and Death of 

Early in the nineteenth century we find Macready 
playing it in the provinces, at Newcastle in 1812, at 
Glasgow in 1813, and finally, a little before he went 
up to London, at Bath, January 26, 1815. His play 
was Shakespeare, unaltered save by omissions. He 
played it once again, in his prime, at the Haymarket, 
December 2, 1850. 

Shortly after Macready 's production in Bath, his 
great contemporary, Edmund Kean, played Richard 
II in Wroughton's adaptation (Drury Lane, March 
9, 1815). Up to the fifth act the alterations consist 
chiefly of omissions, notably in dovetailing the first 
and third scenes of the first act, and cutting prac- 
tically everything out of the Parliament scene except 
the abdication itself. The Duchesses of Gloucester 
and York are left out entirely, but a gentlewoman 
named Blanche is attached to the Queen. In the 
garden scene, Isabel sits in a garden chair while 
Blanche sings a song, 'What fragrance scents the 
vernal air !' In the fifth act, the Queen takes on 
much more importance than Shakespeare gave her. 
In a new scene, she comes to Bolingbroke to tell him 
of a premonition of Richard's death and to demand 
another interview with him. Undergoing a complete 
change of heart, probably on account of her great 
affection, Bolingbroke not only grants the interview 
but follows her to the Tower to restore Richard and 
atone for his wrongs. The murder scene follows as 
in Shakespeare, up to the point where Richard is 
struck down; here the Queen rushes in, he dies in 
her arms, and she faints. Bolingbroke now enters, 
and the Queen revives, to speak the lines of Lear 
over Cordelia, and die. King Henry is so struck with 
remorse that he wishes he were dead in Richard's 
place. Lines from Henry VI, Troilus and Cressida, 
and Antony and Cleopatra also are worked in at 
various places. This was Edmund Kean's standard 



King Richard the Second 133 

version, in which he acted three times that season 
and thirteen times in all. He seems not to have 
included it in his American repertory. 

All these adaptations point the moral of what the 
play lacks as a theater-piece; they all aim to reduce 
the amount of talk, expand the Queen's part, and 
give more complication to the plot. 

The next important production (leaving at one 
side that at Drury Lane, 1834, in which Vanden- 
hoff, Cooper, and Mrs. Sloman played the leading 
parts) was the spectacular revival by Charles Kean 
at the Princess Theatre, March 12, 1857. The text 
was Shakespeare, unaltered except for the usual cuts. 
The distinguishing characteristic of the performance 
was the emphasis laid on historical accuracy in cos- 
tumes and manners, especially in the grand proces- 
sion introduced between the third and fourth acts, 
representing Bolingbroke's triumphal entry into Lon- 
don with Richard a prisoner in his train. The crowd 
were most carefully rehearsed in the sports and 
pastimes of the fourteenth century, after Strutt, and 
some of the populace even had lines to deliver. 
Though impressive, this production did not have any 
tremendous popularity, and resulted in financial loss 
to Kean. 

After 1857 until towards the close of the century, 
Richard II was practically absent from the English 
stage, though Edwin Booth played it in the provinces 
during his tour in 1882. It was one of the four plays 
of Shakespeare that Samuel Phelps did not produce at 
Sadler's Wells. In 1897 Sir Henry Irving formed 
the project of putting it on, even going so far as to 
have scenery painted by E. A. Abbey, but, illness 
interfering, he definitely abandoned the idea in 1898. 
The play was, however, given at his theater, the 
Lyceum, by Benson, March 15, 1900, winning praise 
for the actors but running only two nights. Since 



1 34 The Life and Death of 

1896 it has been in the repertory of Sir F. R. Ben- 
son's company, being played occasionally in London 
but chiefly in the provinces. An interesting perform- 
ance of theirs was that at Flint Castle, August 21, 
1899, just five hundred years after the historical 
events depicted. 

In 1903 Sir Herbert Tree revived Richard II at 
His Majesty's Theatre, where it ran 107 nights, per- 
haps the only unquestionable success in its history. 
He also revived it for the Shakespearean festivals of 
1905, 1906, and 1910, and played it in Berlin on 
his German tour in 1907. Less elaborate produc- 
tions were those of William Poel for the Elizabethan 
Stage Society (November 11, 1899), Granville 
Barker playing the King, those of the Ben Greet 
Players, and of Miss Lillian Bayliss at the Royal 
Victoria Hall. 

In America almost the only notable performances 
were those of Edwin Booth, who first brought it out 
at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, November 8, 1875. It 
was Richard II in which he was playing in Chicago, 
April 23, 1879, when a lunatic fired a revolver at 
him, barely missing his head. For the rest, Seilhamer 
records no production in colonial times; later Ameri- 
can actors seem to have slighted the play; and visit- 
ing British actors preferred to include more certain 
favorites in their American repertories. 

In Germany, it was first played by F. L. Schroeder 
at Hamburg, in 1778. While not a leading favorite 
among Shakespeare's plays, at the present time 
Richard II seems assured of an average of a half- 
dozen performances a year in various parts of the 
country. It appears never to have been played in 
France or Italy. 

The failure of Richard II as a stage play is well 
explained by one who had had practical experience 
with it, as follows: 



King Richard the Second 135 

'Richard II., Bolingbroke, York, and the rest, though 
they talk so well, do little else than talk, nor can all the 
charm of composition redeem in a dramatic point of view 
the weakness resulting from this accident in the play's 
construction.' 

(Macready: Reminiscences. N. Y. 1875. P. 50.) 



APPENDIX C 
The Text of the Present Edition 

Although until recently there were thought to be 
but four Quartos of Richard II (not counting that of 
1634, derived from the Second Folio), A. W. Pollard 
has proved that it appeared in five Quarto editions in 
Shakespeare's lifetime. The characteristics of all 
these and their relations to each other and to the 
First Folio are discussed with great penetration by 
Mr. Pollard {Richard II: A New Quarto. 1916). 

The First Quarto, without the author's name, had 
the following title-page: 

THE / Tragedie of King Ri- / chard the se- / cond. / 
As it hath beene publikely acted / by the right Honourable 
the / Lorde Chamberlaine his Ser- / uants. [Simmes's 
device.] LONDON / Printed by Valentine Simmes for 
Androw Wise, and / are to be sold at his shop in Paules 
church yard at / the signe of the Angel. / 1597. 

The Second Quarto, deriving from the first, and 
Pollard's newly established third, deriving from the 
second, were both printed in 1598, and bore on their 
title-pages the words, 'By William Shake-speare.' 

The Fourth Quarto was the first to print the abdi- 
cation scene (IV. i. 154-318). The earlier part of 
the edition, from which was drawn the copy in the 
Elizabethan Club of New Haven, supplying the title- 
page reproduced in facsimile in this volume, gave no 



136 The Life and Death of 

notice of the fact on its title-page. That of the later 
part of the edition, however, read as follows: 

THE / Tragedie of King / Richard the Second: / With 
new additions of the Parlia- / ment Sceane, and the de- 
posing / of King Richard, / As it hath been lately acted 
by the Kinges / Maiesties seruantes, at the Globe. / By 
William Shakespeare. / AT LONDON, / Printed by 
W. W. for Matthew Law, and are to / be sold at his shop 
in Paules Church-yard, / at the signe of the Foxe. / 1608. 

The Fifth Quarto (1615) followed the fourth, and 
seems to have become the basis of the First Folio 
text, supplemented and corrected by a purer version, 
which Pollard conjectures to have been a copy of the 
First Quarto annotated for use in the theater. The 
First Folio text, while full of inferior readings, sup- 
plies the division into acts and scenes, fuller stage 
directions, and a superior text of the abdication scene. 
From the Folio, however, are omitted about fifty lines 
printed in all the Quartos ; the longer omissions seem 
to be in the nature of cuts to shorten the time of per- 
formance. They occur in nine places, as follows: 

I. iii. 129-133 III. ii. 29-32 

I. iii. 239-242 III. ii. 49 

I. iii. 268-293 III. ii. 182 

II. ii. 77 IV. i. 52-59 

V. iii. 99 

The present text is based on that of Craig's Oxford 
Shakespeare (Oxford, the Clarendon Press), which is 
eclectic between the First Quarto and the First Folio. 
Where practicable, the stage directions of the early 
editions have been restored. The list of dramatis 
personae, the scene locations, and such stage direc- 
tions as are supplied from later sources are inclosed 
in brackets. Certain spellings in Craig have been 
altered: naught for nought, whilst for while, antic 
for antick, forgo for forego, yon for yond. Other 
departures from the Oxford text are listed below, 



King Richard the Second 187 

the reading of the present edition before the colon, 
the Oxford reading after it. 

I. i. 51 this.: this: 

72 except.: except: 

168 death, that: death that 

187 O God, . . . sin!: O! God defend ... sin. 

ii. 23 self mould Qq: self -mould Fl 

iii. 118 Stay Qq, Fl: Stay, stay 

II. i. 18 As praises, of whose taste the wise are fond ; 
Ql: As praises of his state: then there are 
fond (sound Fl) 

20 listen;: listen: 
121 son,: son, — 

183 kindred Qq: kindred's Fl 

203 letters-patents Qq, Fl: letters-patent 

240 moe Qq, Fl: more 

II. ii. 15 shows ... is Qq, Fl : show . . . are 

57 And all the rest revolted Ql: And all the rest 

of the revolted 

112 T one Ql: the one 

113 t' other Ql: the other 

iii. 5 Draws . . . makes Qq, Fl : Draw . . . make 

35 directions Qq: direction Fl 

80 self -borne Fl (selfeborne Ql): self -born F3-4 

125 cousin Qq: kinsman Fl 

III. ii. 55 balm off from Qq: balm from Fl 

64 farther Qq, Fl: further 

iii. 52 this Qq, Fl: the 

62 S. d. Boling. Qq: H.Percy 

91 stands Qq: is Fl 

202 hands Qq: hand Fl 

iv. S. d. Enter a Gardener fyc, between 23 and 24 Qq, 

Fl: between 28 and 29 

IV. i. 33 sympathy Qq: sympathies Fl 

145 raise Qq: rear Fl 

263 good — : good, 

276 that Fl: the Q3-4 

V. i.39 thy Ql: my Q2-4, Fl 

43 quite their griefs Ql: quit their grief Fl 

ii. 18 from the one Qq: from one Fl 

58 see Qq: sees Fl 
67 himself?: himself! 

iii. 1 teU me of Qq: tell of Fl 

21 sparks of better hope Qq, Fl: sparkles of a 

better hope 

22 years Qq: days Fl 



138 The Life and Death of 

85 rest rest Qq: rest rests Fl 

112 Say Qq: But Fl 

iv. 9 heart,: heart; 

v. 29 misfortunes Qq: misfortune Fl 

33 treasons make Qq: treason makes Fl 

69 hither, Qq, Fl: hither, man, 

94 spurr'd, gall'd, and tir'd Qq: spur-gall'd and 
tird Fl 

vi. 43 shades Ql: shade Fl 

4T what Qq: that Fl 



APPENDIX D 

Suggestions for Collateral Reading 

Text 
A. W. Pollard: A new Shakespeare quarto. The 
tragedy of King Richard II. Printed for the third 
time by Valentine Simmes in 1598. Reproduced in 
facsimile from the unique copy in the library of 
William Augustus White. 1916. 

Annotated Editions 

Richard II in the First Folio Edition, edited by 
Charlotte Porter. New York, 1910. One volume. 

Richard II in the Arden Shakespeare, edited by 
C. H. Herford. Boston, 1895. One volume. 

Sources 

W. G. Boswell-Stone : Shahspere's Holinshed. The 
chronicle and the historical plays compared. 1896. 
[A valuable work in the form of excerpts from 
Holinshed in the order employed by Shakespeare; 
the complete and consecutive text of the chronicle 
pertaining to the reigns concerned may be read in: 
R. S. Wallace and Alma Hansen, Holinshed's chroni- 



King Richard the Second 139 

dies, Richard II 1898-1400 and Henry V. Ox- 
ford, 1917.] 

A. B. Grosart: The complete works of Samuel 
Daniel. In four volumes. Vol. II. The ciuile wars 
between the two houses of Lancaster and YorJce. 
1595-1628. Printed for private circulation only. 
1885. 

Criticism 

S. T. Coleridge: Complete works, edited by W. G. 
T. Shedd. New York, 1871. Lectures on Shake- 
speare. Pp. 119-129. 

W. Hazlitt: Collected works, edited by A. R. Wal- 
ler and A. Glover. Twelve volumes. 1902. Vol. I. 
Characters of Shakespear 3 s plays. Pp. 272-277. 

A. C. Swinburne: Three plays of Shakespeare. 
1909. 

W. Pater: Appreciations, with an essay on style. 
New York, 1906. Pp. 192-212. 

S. A. Brooke: On ten plays of Shakespeare. New 
York, 1905. Chapter III. 

J. A. R. Marriott: Richard the redeless — the ama- 
teur in politics. Fortnightly Review, April, 1917. 
Vol. 107, pp. 683-698. 



APPENDIX E 

Historical Dates of Scenes 

Note: An attempt is made here to show how 
Shakespeare adapted historical chronology to suit his 
dramatic purposes and necessities. The dates given 
are those of modern historians; in Holinshed, how- 
ever, Shakespeare found much less distinctness re- 
garding the lapse of time and the order of events. 



140 



The Life and Death of 



Scene 

Li. 

I.ii. 

I.iii. 

I.iv. 



ILL 



II. ii. 



II. iii. 

II. iv. 

III. L 
III. ii. 



III. iii. 



III. iv. 



Location 

Windsor Castle 
London 
Coventry- 
Windsor Castle 



London 



London 



Wilds of 

Gloucestershire 
North Wales 
Bristol 
Coast of Wales 



Flint Castle, in 
North Wales 



Langley in Hert- 
fordshire 



Historical Date 

28 April, 1398 

A few days before I. iii. 

11 or 17 September, 1398 

12 or 13 October, 1398 (de- 
parture of Bolingbroke) 

3 February, 1399 (death of 
John of Gaunt. LI. 53-63 
show that II. i. ensues imme- 
diately upon I. iv.) 

3 February, 1399 

18 March, 1399 

29 May, 1399 

(The cancellation of Boling- 
broke's letters-patent was 
published 18 March, and 
Richard did not sail for Ire- 
land until 29 May; more- 
over, Bolingbroke was not 
invited to return until after 
Richard's departure) 
After 4 July and before 22 
July, 1399 

but a. Worcester's defection, 
11. 59-60, took place after 
Richard's return; 
b. the Duchess of Glouces- 
ter died 3 October, 1399) 

27 July, 1399 

Before 1 August, 1399 

29 July, 1399 

22 or 26 July, 1399 (but the 
king's meeting with Salis- 
bury occurred 1 August, 
1399) 

19 August, 1399 (but the em- 
bassage of Northumberland 
had come to Richard at Con- 
way several days before) 

After 1 September, the day on 
which Richard was taken 
into London 



King Richard the Second 



141 



Scene 
IV. i. 

V.i. 



V.ii. 

V.iii. 
V.iv. 

V.v. 
V.vi. 



Location 



Westminster Hall 



London 



London: York 

House 
Windsor Castle 
Windsor Castle 

Pontef ract Castle, 
Yorkshire 

Windsor Castle 



Historical Date 
30 September, 1399 (abdication 

of Richard) 
22 October, 1399 (speech of 

Carlisle) 

3 November, 1399 (trial of 
Bagot and appeal of Au- 
merle) 

30 September, 1399 (imme- 
diately after Parliament 
scene, but Richard was not 
removed from the Tower to 
go to Pontefract Castle un- 
til 29 October, 1399) 

4 January, 1400 
4 January, 1400 

Several days before 14 Febru- 
ary, 1400 

14 February, 1400 (tradition- 
ally) 

17 February, 1400 (but the 
affair at Cirencester took 
place 7-8 January, 1400) 



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INDEX OF WORDS GLOSSED 



(Figures in full-faced type refer to page-numbers) 



abide: 105 (V. vi. 22) 
absent time: 45 (II. iii. 79) 
accomplish'd: 32 (II. i. 178) 
affects: 24 (I. iv. 30) 
against: 69 (III. iv. 28) 
aggravate: 2 (I. i. 43) 
alarms: 8 (I. i. 205) 
allow: 89 (V. ii. 40) 
amaz'd: 91 (V. ii. 85) 
answer: 78 (IV. i. 159); 91 

(V. ii. 83) 
antic: 57 (III. ii. 162) 
antipodes: 53 (III. ii. 49) 
apparent: 76 (IV. i. 124) 
appeach: 91 (V. ii. 79) 
appeal: 1 (I. i. 4) ; 1 (I. i. 

appellant: 2 (I. i. 34) 
appointments: 61 (III. iii. 

53) 
apprehension: 22 (I. iii. 

300) 
approve: 15 (I. iii. 112) 
approved: 44 (II. iii. 44) 
argument: 1 (I. i. 12) 
arms: 56 (III. ii. 115) 
as: 26 (II. i. 13) 
at large: 51 (III. i. 41) 
atone: 8 (I. i. 202) 
attach: 48 (II. iii. 156) 
attainder: 73 (IV. i. 24) 
attending: 15 (I. iii. 116) 
attorneys-general: 33 (II. i. 

204) 
awful: 62 (III. iii. 76) 
ay, no: 79 (IV. i. 201, 202) 

baffled: 7 (I. i. 170) 
bait: 80 (IV. i. 238) 



balm: 54 (III. ii. 55) 
band: 1 (I. i. 2) 
barbed: 64 (III. iii. 117) 
Barkloughly: 52 (III. ii. 1) 
base court: 66 (III. iii. 176) 
bay: 47 (II. iii. 128) 
beadsmen: 56 (III. ii. 116) 
befall: 30 (II. i. 129) 
Beggar and the King, the: 

96 (V. iii. 80) 
beguile: 82 (IV. i. 281) 
benevolences: 34 (II. i. 250) 
betid: 86 (V. i. 42) 
betimes: 27 (II. i. 36) 
bias: 68 (III. iv. 5) 
biUs: 56 (III. ii. 118) 
blanks: 34 (II. i. 251) 
bond: 91 (V. ii. 65) 
boot: 7 (I. i. 164) 
boots: 18 (I. iii. 174) 
Bordeaux: 105 (V. vi. 33) 
bound: 89 (V. ii. 38) 
bowls: 68 (III. iv. 3) 
braving: 46 (II. iii. 112) . 
bring: 22 (I. iii. 304) 
Britaine: 36 (II. i. 285) 
broking pawn: 36 (II. ii. 

293) 
brooch: 102 (V. v. 66) 
brooks: 52 (III. ii. 2) 
brother: 36 (II. i. 282) 
brother-in-law: 98 (V. iii. 

137) 
bury: 84 (IV. i. 329) 
but: 76 (IV. i. 123) 
buzz'd: 26 (II. i. 26) 
by: 27 (II. i. 52) 

caitiff: 10 (I. ii. 53) 



144 



The Life and Death of 



care: 79 (IV. i. 194-198) 
career: 10 (I. ii. 49) 
careful: 39 (II. ii. 75) 
carous'd: 30 (II. i. 127) 
challenge: 47 (II. iii. 134) 
change: 58 (III. ii. 189) 
charge: 31 (II. i. 160) 
check: 101 (V. v. 46) 
child's children: 77 (IV. i. 

149) 
choler: 6 (I. i. 153) 
chopping: 98 (V. iii. 124) 
Cicester: 104 (V. vi. 3) 
civil: 16 (I. iii. 128) 
clap: 56 (III. ii. 114) 
clean: 50 (III. i. 10) 
clock: 101 (V. v. 50) 
clog: 105 (V. vi. 20) 
coat: 51 (III. i. 24) 
come: 100 (V. v. 15, 16) 
commend: 11 (I. ii. 71) 
commends: 51 (III. i. 38) 
compass: 29 (II. i. 101) 
compassionate: 18 (I. iii. 

174) 
complexion: 59 (III. ii. 194) 
complices: 48 (II. iii. 165) 
composition: 28 (II. i. 73) 
compromise: 35 (II. i. 254) 
conceit: 38 (II. ii. 33); 58 

(III. ii. 166) 
conclude: 6 (I. i. 156) 
conduct: 78 (IV. i. 157) 
confines: 56 (III. ii. 125) 
confound: 70 (III. iv. 60); 

77 (IV. i. 141) 
conjuration: 52 (III. ii. 23) 
consorted: 98 (V. iii. 138) 
content: 91 (V. ii. 82) 
contents: 89 (V. ii. 38) 
converts: 86 (V. i. 66) 
convey: 83 (IV. i. 316) 
cormorant: 27 (II. i. 38) 
correction: 9 (I. ii. 4) 
couched: 15 (I. iii. 98) 
court: 24 (I. iv. 43) 
cousin: 10 (I. ii. 53) 



cousins, two: 88 (V. ii. 3) 
cozening: 39 (II. ii. 69) 
crosses: 40 (II. ii. 79) 
crossly: 49 (II. iv. 24) 

daintiness: 101 (V. v. 45) 

dear: 5 (I. i. 130) 

dearer merit: 17 (I. iii. 

156) 
debase: 64 (III. iii. 127) 
deceivable: 46 (II. iii. 84) 
defend: 12 (I. iii. 18) 
deliver: 55 (III. ii. 92) 
depose: 12 (I. iii. 30) 
design: 4 (I. i. 81); 8 (I. 

i. 203) 
desperate: 94 (V. iii. 20) 
despised: 46 (II. iii. 95) 
digg'd: 66 (III. iii. 169) 
digressing: 96 (V. iii. 66) 
discomfort: 54 (III. ii. 65) 
discomfortable: 53 (III. ii. 

36) 
discoursed: 105 (V. vi. 10) 
dispark'd: 51 (III. i. 23) 
dispatch: 80 (IV. i. 243) 
distinguish: 37 (II. ii. 20) 
distrain'd: 47 (II. iii. 131) 
divine: 71 (III. iv. 79) 
dolour: 20 (I. iii. 257) 
double-fatal: 56 (III. ii. 

117) 
doubt, 'tis: 70 (III. iv. 69) 
dress'd: 70 (III. iv. 56) 

ear: 59 (III. ii. 212) 
earth: 27 (II. i. 41) 
embassage: 71 (III. iv. 93) 
enfranchisement: 14 (I. iii. 

90); 64 (III. iii. 114) 
engaol'd: 17 (I. iii. 166) 
ensue: 32 (II. i. 198); 33 

(II. i. 213) 
entreated: 51 (III. i. 37) 
estate: 69 (III. iv. 42) 
even: 69 (III. iv. 36) 
events: 33 (II. i. 215) 



King Richard the Second 



145 



exactly: 6 (Li. 140) 
exclaims: 8 (I. ii. 2) 
expedience: 36 (II. i. 287) 
expedient: 24 (I. iv. 39) 
extremest: 74 (IV. i. 47) 

faintly: 21 (I. iii. 281) 
fair befall: 30 (II. i. 129) 
fall: 72 (III. iv. 104) 
fantastic: 22 (I. iii. 299) 
farm: 24 (I. iv. 45) 
favour: 94 (V. iii. 18) 
favours: 78 (IV. i. 168) 
fearful: 62 (III. iii. 73) 
fell: 10 (I. ii. 46) 
fellow: 55 (III. ii. 99) 
female: 56 (III. ii. 114) 
fight: 58 (III. ii. 183) 
figure: 76 (IV. i. 125) 
first: 36 (II. i. 290) 
Flint: 59 (III. ii. 209) 
flourish: 11 (I. iii. 6 S. d.) 
foil: 21 (I. iii. 266) 
fond: 88 (V. i. 101) 
fondly: 66 (III. iii. 185) 
for: 16 (I. iii. 127) 
forerun: 69 (III. iv. 28) 
forfend: 77 (IV. i. 129) 
forth: 59 (III. ii. 204) 
for that: 16 (I. iii. 125) 
forward: 75 (IV. i. 72) 
for why: 86 (V. i. 46) 
fretted: 65 (III. iii. 167) 
furbish: 14 (I. iii. 76) 

gage: 3 (I. i. 69) 
gallant: 93 (V. iii. 15) 
gathering head: 86 (V. i. 

58) 
gelded: 34 (II. i. 238) 
give scope: 65 (III. iii. 140) 
glasses: 19 (I. iii. 208) 
Glendower: 51 (III. i. 43) 
glistering: 66 (III. iii. 178) 
glose: 26 (II. i. 10) 
gnarling: 22 (I. iii. 292) 



God's substitute: 10 (I. ii. 

37) 
government: 69 (III. iv. 36) 
grace: 97 (V. iii. 99); 106 

(V. vi. 51) 
grav'd: 57 (III. ii. 140) 
groats: 102 (V. v. 68) 
gross: 104 (V. v. 113) 

Hallowmas: 87 (V. i. 80) 
hap: 2 (I. i. 23) 
hard-favour'd: 85 (V. i. 14) 
haught: 81 (IV. i. 254) 
haviour: 14 (I. iii. 77) 
head: 60 (III. iii. 14); 86 

(V. i. 58) 
heaviness: 37 (II. ii. 3) 
height: 8 (I. i. 189) 
heir: 67 (III. iii. 205) 
hence: 85 (V. i. 37) 
Hereford: 1 (I. i. 3) 
high: 23 (I. iv. 2) 
high-stomach'd: 2 (I. i. 18) 
hold: 71 (III. iv. 83); 90 

(V. ii. 52) 
hold out: 36 (II. i. 300) 
holp: 102 (V. v. 62) 
humour'd: 58 (III. ii. 168) 
humours: 100 (V. v. 10) 

idly: 89 (V. ii. 25) 
ill: 29 (II. i. 94) 
ill-erected: 84 (V. i. 2) 
imagery: 89 (V. ii. 16) 
imp: 36 (II. i. 292) 
impeach'd: 7 (I. i. 170) 
impress: 51 (III. i. 25) 
in: 34 (II. i. 240) 
inclination: 59 (III. ii. 195) 
incontinent: 106 (V. vi. 48) 
indifferent: 47 (II. iii. 116) 
inform: 34 (II. i. 243) 
inhabitable: 3 (I. i. 65) 
inherit: 4 (I. i. 85) 
injurious: 4 (I. i. 91) 
inlaid: 66 (III. iii. 168) 
insinuate: 78 (IV. i. 165) 



146 



The Life and Death of 



intents: 84 (IV. i. 329) 
interchangeably: 6 (I. i. 

146) 
issue: 48 (II. iii. 152) 

Jack: 101 (V. v. 60) 
jades: 66 (III. iii. 179) 
jar: 101 (V. v. 51) 
jauncing: 103 (V. v. 94) 
Jewry: 27 (II. i. 55) 
journeyman: 21 (I. iii. 274) 
joy: 105 (V. vi. 26) 
justs: 90 (V. ii. 52) 

kerns: 31 (II. i. 157) 

kind: 48 (II. iii. 143); 77 

(IV. i. 141) 
kindred: 41 (II. ii. 115) 
knots: 69 (III. iv. 46) 

large, at: 51 (III. i. 41) 
largess: 24 (I. iv. 44) 
learn: 76 (IV. i. 120) 
leave: 88 (V. ii. 4) 
lendings: 4 (I. i. 89) 
length, of: 73 (IV. i. 11) 
less happier: 27 (II. i. 49) 
letters-patents: 32 (II. i. 

203) 
lewd: 4 (I. i. 90) 
liberal: 34 (II. i. 230) 
lightens: 62 (III. iii. 69) 
lineal royalties: 64 (III. iii. 

113) 
lingers: 39 (II. ii. 72) 
lions: 7 (Li. 174) 
listen'd: 26 (II. i. 9) 
little world: 100 (V. v. 9) 
livery: 33 (II. i. 205) 
lodge: 65 (III. iii. 162) 
lusty: 14 (I. iii. 77) 

maid-pale: 63 (III. iii. 98) 
maim: 17 (I. iii. 156) 
make: 96 (V. iii. 89) 
make a leg: 66 (III. iii. 

175) 



manage: 24 (I. iv. 39); 56 

(III. ii. 118) ; 66 (III. iii. 

179) 
manent: 33 (II. i. 224) 
manner, in: 50 (III. i. 11) 
manual seal: 73 (IV. i. 25) 
mark'd: 26 (II. i. 11) 
mean: 9 (I. ii. 33) 
measure: 22 (I. iii. 291); 68 

(III. iv. 8) 
meet: 97 (V. iii. 118) 
me rather had: 67 (III. iii. 

192) 
merit: 17 (I. iii. 156) 
metal: 9 (I. ii. 23) 
minister: 46 (II. iii. 105) 
mistake: 60 (III. iii. 15, 17) 
model: 9 (I. ii. 28) ; 57 (III. 

ii. 153) ; 69 (III. iv. 42) ; 

85 (V. i. 11) 
moe: 34 (II. i. 240) 
motive: 8 (I. i. 193) 
murdered: 106 (V. vi. 40) 
must be: 31 (II. i. 155) 
mutiny: 26 (II. i. 28) 

near: 54 (III. ii. 64); 87 

(V. i. 88) 
neuter: 48 (II. iii. 159) 
new world's: 85 (V. i. 24) 
nicely: 28 (II. i. 84) 
noble: 76 (IV. i. 117-119) 
nobles: 4 (I. i. 88) 
noblesse: 76 (IV. i. 119) 
none: 92 (V. ii. 99) 
none other can: 96 (V. iii. 

note: 2 (I. i. 43) 
nothing: 38 (II. ii. 37) 
nothing less: 38 (II. ii. 34) 

of: 77 (IV. i. 151) 

office: 27 (II. i. 47) ; 73 (IV. 

i. 5) 
officers-at-arms : 8 (I. i. 

204) 
offices: 11 (I. ii. 69) 



King Richard the Second 



147 



oil-dried: 19 (I. iii. 221) 
oppression: 69 (III. iv. 31) 
order: 15 (I. iii. 99); 98 

(V. iii. 140) 
order ta'en: 86 (V. i. 53) 
other: 96 (V. iii. 88) 
over-blown: 58 (III. ii. 190) 
owes: 79 (IV. i. 185) 

pain, on: 15 (I. iii. 106) 
painted: 89 (V. ii. 16) 
pale: 69 (III. iv. 40) 
pardonez moy ; 98 (V. iii. 

119) 
parle: 8 (I. i. 192) 
part: 50 (III. i. 3) 
partialis: 5 (Li. 120) 
partial slander: 20 (I. iii. 

241) 
party: 59 (III. ii. 203) 
party- verdict: 20 (I. iii. 

234) 
passages: 21 (I. iii. 272) 
passengers: 93 (V. iii. 9) 
pawn: 36 (II. i. 293) 
peace: 91 (V. ii. 81) 
pelican: 30 (II. i. 126) 
pelting: 27 (II. i. 60) 
perspectives: 37 (II. ii. 18) 
perus'd: 61 (III. iii. 53) 
Phaethon: 66 (III. iii. 178) 
Pilate: 80 (IV. i. 239) 
piU'd: 34 (II. i. 247) 
pines: 87 (V. i. 77) 
pitch: 5 (Li. 109) 
plaining: 18 (I. iii. 175) 
planted: 77 (IV. i. 127) 
Plashy: 11 (I. ii. 66) 
play . . . wantons: 65 (III. 

iii. 164) 
point on: 17 (I. iii. 147) 
Pomfret: 86 (V. i. 52) 
possess'd: 29 (II. i. 107) 
post: 3 (I. i. 56); 92 (V. ii. 

112) 
postern: 100 (V. v. 17) 
power: 38 (II. ii. 46) 



presence: 20 (I. iii. 249); 22 

(I. iii. 289) 
presence, in: 74 (IV. i. 62) 
presently: 24 (I. iv. 52) 
press'd: 54 (III. ii. 58) 
press'd to death: 70 (III. 

iv. 72) 
prevent: 58 (III. ii. 179) 
prevention: 31 (II. i. 168) 
prime: 90 (V. ii. 51) 
private: 60 (III. iii. 4) 
process: 43 (II. iii. 12) 
profane: 13 (I. iii. 59); 85 

(V. i. 25) 
profit: 80 (IV. i. 225) 
proof: 14 (I. iii. 73) 
property: 56 (III. ii. 135) 
proportion: 101 (V. v. 43) 
prove: 100 (V. v. 6) 
purchase: 21 (I. iii. 282) 

quarrel: 9 (I. ii. 6) 
quite: 86 (V. i. 43) 

rag'd 28 (II. i. 70) 
ragged: 100 (V. v. 21) 
ransom: 27 (II. i. 56) 
raze: 45 (II. iii. 75) 
receipt: 5 (Li. 126) 
recreant: 10 (I. ii. 53) 
refuge: 100 (V. v. 26) 
regard of, in: 19 (I. iii. 

216) 
regard, wit's: 26 (II. i. 28) 
regenerate: 14 (I. iii. 70) 
regreet: 14 (I. iii. 67); 16 

(I. iii. 142) 
rehearse: 98 (V. iii. 128) 
release: 79 (IV. i. 210) 
remainder, upon: 5 (I. i. 

130) 
remedies: 67 (III. iii. 203) 
remember: 21 (I. iii. 269) 
repeal'd: 61 (III. iii. 40) 
repeals: 38 (II. ii. 49) 
respect: 26 (II. i. 25) 
respect'st: 30 (II. i. 131) 



148 



The Life and Death of 



rest under gage: 75 (IV. i. 

86) 
retir'd: 38 (II. ii. 46) 
return: 16 (I. iii. 122) 
reversion: 24 (I. iv. 35); 38 

(II. ii. 38) 
rheum: 23 (I. iv. 8) 
rid: 99 (V. iv. 11) 
riot: 26 (II. i. 33) 
room: 103 (V. v. 108) 
rounds: 57 (III. ii. 161) 
royalties: 32 (II. i. 191); 64 

(III. iii. 113) 
rubs: 68 (III. iv. 4) 
rue: 72 (III. iv. 105) 
rug-headed: 31 (II. i. 157) 
ruth: 72 (III. iv. 106) 
Rutland: 90 (V. ii. 43) 

Saint Lambert's day: 8 (I. 

i. 199) 
scoffing: 57 (III. ii. 163) 
scope: 65 (III. iii. 140) 
scraping: 96 (V. iii. 69) 
scruples: 100 (V. v. 13) 
seat: 56 (III. ii. 119) 
secret: 105 (V. vi. 25) 
secure: 95 (V. iii. 43) 
securely: 35 (II. i. 267) 
security: 53 (III. ii. 34) 
self: 9 (I. ii. 23) 
self and vain conceit: 58 

(III. ii. 166) 
self -borne: 45 (II. iii. 80) 
set down . . . hands: 92 (V. 

ii. 98) 
set on: 16 (I. iii. 131) 
sets: 74 (IV. i. 57) 
sets it light: 22 (I. iii. 293) 
sheer: 95 (V. iii. 61) 
shows: 37 (II. ii. 15) 
shrewd: 54 (III. ii. 59) 
signories: 50 (III. i. 22) 
silly: 100 (V. v. 25) 
six and seven, at: 41 (II. ii. 

121) 
slander, of: 106 (V. vi. 35) 



sly: 17 (I. iii. 150) 
smooth: 20 (I. iii. 240) 
solicit: 8 (I. ii. 2) 
something: 38 (II. ii. 37) 
sometime: 78 (IV. i. 169) 
sometimes: 10 (I. ii. 54) 
son, my: 89 (V. ii. 41) 
sooth: 64 (III. iii. 136) 
sort: 81 (IV. i. 246) 
sour: 80 (IV. i. 241) 
sour . . . cheek: 31 (II. i. 

170) 
sprightfully: 11 (I. iii. 3) 
staff: 39 (II. ii. 59) 
staggers: 104 (V. v. 110) 
stands . . . upon: 47 (II. 

iii. 138) 
stars: 73 (IV. i. 21) 
state: 80 (IV. i. 225); 81 

(IV. i. 252) 
state of law: 29 (II. i. 114) 
stay: 22 (I. iii. 305) 
sterling, be: 81 (IV. i. 264) 
stews: 93 (V. iii. 16) 
still: 38 (II. ii. 34) 
still-breeding: 100 (V. v. 8) 
stir: 44 (II. iii. 51) 
straight: 101 (V. v. 38) 
stranger: 17 (I. iii. 143) 
stray: 19 (I. iii. 206) 
streaming: 75 (IV. i. 94) 
strew'd: 22 (I. iii. 289) 
strike: 35 (II. i. 267) 
studying: 99 (V. v. 1) 
subjected: 58 (III. ii. 176) 
suffering: 35 (II. i. 270) 
suggest: 4 (I. i. 101) 
suggested: 71 (III. iv. 75) 
sue . . . livery: 33 (II. i. 

204) 
suit: 77 (IV. i. 154) 
sullen: 106 (V. vi. 48) 
sullens: 30 (II. i. 139) 
sureties: 78 (IV. i. 159) 
sympathize: 86 (V. i. 46) 
sympathy: 73 (IV. i. 33) 
swear ... in: 12 (I. iii. 10) 



King Richard the Second 



149 



sworn brother: 85 (V. i. 20) 

taking: 60 (III. iii. 14) 
taU: 36 (II. i. 286) 
task: 74 (IV. i. 52) 
tediousness: 43 (II. iii. 12) 
teeming: 92 (V. ii. 91) 
tend: 79 (IV. i. 199) 
tendering: 2 (I. i. 33) 
testament: 63 (III. iii. 94) 
that: 39 (II. ii. 52) 
them: 63 (III. iii. 83) 
thinking: 38 (II. ii. 30-32) 
thrive, to: 14 (I. iii. 84) 
throw: 74 (IV. i. 57) 
tie: 75 (IV. i. 77) 
tied: 3 (I. i. 63) 
timeless: 72 (IV. i. 5) 
time of year: 70 (III. iv. 

57) 
'tis doubt: 70 (III. iv. 69) 
to: 83 (IV. i. 308) 
toil'd: 75 (IV. i. 96) 
t'one: 41 (II. ii. 112) 
totter'd: 61 (III. iii. 52) 
tower: 84 (V. i. 2) 
trespass: 6 (I. i. 138) 
trial: 75 (IV. i. 90) 
triumphs: 90 (V. ii. 52) 
trow: 33 (II. i. 219) 
try: 75 (IV. i. 85) 
turn: 73 (IV. i. 39) 

unavoided: 35 (II. i. 269) 
uncivil: 63 (III. iii. 102) 
underbearing : 24 (I. iv. 29) 
uneven: 41 (II. ii. 120) 
unfelt: 45 (II. iii. 61) 
unfurnish'd: 11 (I. ii. 68) 
unkiss: 87 (V. i. 74) 
unless: 94 (V. iii. 32) 
unstaid: 25 (II. i. 2) 
unthrifts: 47 (II. iii. 122) 
unthrifty: 93 (V. iii. 1) 



unto: 69 (III. iv. 26) 
untruth: 40 (II. ii. 101) 
urging: 50 (III. i. 4) 

vaded: 9 (I. ii. 20) 
venom: 31 (II. i. 158) 
verge: 29 (II. i. 102) 

wanting: 66 (III. iii. 179) 
want remedies: 67 (III. iii. 

203) 
wanton: 65 (III. iii. 164) ; 

88 (V. i. 101); 93 (V. iii. 

10) 
warder: 16 (I. iii. 118) 
waste: 29 (II. i. 103) 
watch: 93 (V. iii. 9) 
waxen: 14 (I. iii. 75) 
Wednesday: 83 (IV. i. 319) 
weed: 48 (II. iii. 167) 
when: 7 (Li 162) 
whereof: 6 (Li 150) 
which: 16 (I. iii. 134); 85 

(V. i. 34) 
Wiltshire, Earl of: 33 (II. i. 

216) 
wink: 82 (IV. i. 284) 
wistly: 99 (V. iv. 7) 
withdraw: 16 (I. iii. 121) 
within: 91 (V. ii. 74) 
without: 90 (V. ii. 56) 
witnessing: 49 (II. iv. 22) 
wit's regard: 26 (II. i. 28) 
Woodstock's: 8 (I. ii. 1) 
word: 100 (V. v. 13, 14) 
world, little: 100 (V. v. 9) 
worst: 76 (IV. i. 115) 
worthy: 87 (V. i. 68) 
wot: 38 (II. ii. 40) 
wrack: 35 (II. i. 268) 
wrought: 72 (IV. i. 4) 

yearn'd: 102 (V. v. 76) 
young: 43 (II. iii. 21) 



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